By Rohan Anne and Gabe Eisenberg, Webmaster and Staff Reporter
On Dec. 17, 2024, the boys’ swim team won a meet 103-82 against Haverford. This marked not only another win for the boys’ swimming team in the Central League but also a milestone: the team’s 100th consecutive win.
For senior and boys swimming co-captain Brandon Bacani, this goal is one that he has been striving for with the team since freshman year.
“I remember starting out my freshman year with our consecutive win record around the 70s, and one of the seniors at the time told me that it would be my senior year if we reached 100 back-to-back wins,” Bacani said. “It’s still crazy to think about how we’ve never lost during my high school career.”
Each season consists of several dual meets, which are competitions between two teams. The two teams in each meet are ranked by how well individual members perform in their own events for an overall score.
“It’s really just based off a points system with each event,” sophomore Liam Haas said. “Getting first in an event gets you the most amount of points, second gives you the next most, and so on.”
Along with practices involving the entire team, several members of the boys’ swimming team are involved with other competitive club swim organizations. According to Bacani, the biggest strength the team possesses is its swimmers’ work ethic.
“Conestoga is in a great spot, with a lot of great talent coming from clubs like the YMCA,” Bacani said. “The outside work that our swimmers are putting in with other clubs is what really separates us because every member is practicing around 10 hours a week both in the pool and with workouts on dry land.”
Even with team members putting in effort outside of team practices, Bacani feels that one of the most important factors that led to the team’s success is the tight-knit community that the swimmers have created.
“Outside of the pool, we’ve had a lot of social gatherings together, including a pasta party before some of our meets at my house,” Bacani said. “It’s really shown me that swimming is not about the speed of the team, but the supportive framework we’ve tried to build up so that even if you don’t have a great swim at the start of the meet, you’re feeling great going into your next event.”
Rohan Anne can be reached at [email protected].
Gabe Eisenberg can be reached at [email protected].
