Tahlia Scherer, Blogs Editor
@tscherercourant
As the winter season begins again, boys swim and dive – the defending class L champions – are hungry for a three-peat this year. With their first practice taking place Monday, December 12, head coach Kat Munson has high aspiriations for the boys. “They are defending class L champs, and so we expect to repeat that championship title. We also are looking to challenge Greenwich at Opens,” she said.
“Last season, the team fell short to the runner-up position by less than ten points to Pomperaug,” Coach Munson said. “We want to beat Pomperaug, give Greenwich a run for their money, and then get as close to a perfect dual meet season as possible. Our focus is definitely the championship season rather than the dual meet season.”
Senior captain Jason Pastushan hopes that he and his teammates can top their impressive performance last year. “I’m expecting big things from guys like Jack Haley, Eric Huang, Deacon Mascarinas and Gabriele Pozzolini. I think these guys are all really talented and I expect them to perform really well this year,” he said.
This year, the team has some versatility, which is crucial to the team’s success in the championship season. “Our strongest events are definitely the 100 free, 100 fly, and 200 free. We have a bunch of guys who can perform in all of these events which makes it so we can switch people around,” Jason said.
Coach Munson believes her returning swimmers will be essential to the team’s success. “Some of the key returning swimmers are Ben Madan, one of our senior captains, who is definitely someone we are going to rely on for the mid-distance, distance freestyle, and as part of our relays,” she said. “Some of the key contributors would be Deacon Mascarinas and Eric Huang, who as a freshman was a dual-event open qualifier in the 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke.”
“As defending champions, three-peating is an obvious goal”
Jason Pastushan ’23
Coach Munson’s hopes that the boys can make some history this season. “There are likely to be a lot of records that will be broken this year – probably at least three individual records that are likely going to fall – potentially the 2 medley relay as well.”
Coach Munson said, “I think something that’s really exciting is that three of our five seniors last year are competing at the collegiate level – two of which in a D1 program, which is really impressive. On the team right now, we have several swimmers that are working towards getting recruited to compete not just in college but likely at a D1 level as well. I think as much as we’ve had this success as a team – winning four of five championship meets in the last five years – some individuals deserve a lot of recognition for where they are and where they are on track to go. Ben Madan is probably going to be swimming in college, Deacon Mascarinas is going to be a top tier recruit, Eric Huang is going to be a top tier recruit. That’s a lot of guys to have in that position already, especially given two of them are only sophomores.”
Last year, the team produced a few college recruits, which Coach Munson hopes will happen again this year. “Something that’s really exciting is that three of our five seniors last year are competing at the collegiate level – two of whom will be competiting in a D1 program, which is really impressive. On the team right now, we have several swimmers that are working towards getting recruited to compete not just in college but likely at a D1 level as well,” she said.
The boys will face some solid competition this season, but Jason believes that his team is equipped for the challenge. “Our toughest matchups this year will be Ridgefield, Greenwich and NorMac. If we take it one event at a time and we really work on not having any 6th places, I think we can put up a fight.”
