Cohesion shines through for South River
LANDOVER — South River was undeniable in its surge toward victory.
From the very first race — the boys’ 200-yard medley relay — the Seahawks proved to be more than capable of running away with the gold, as South River stockpiled 26 top-three medals on Friday in front of 11 other county teams.
More importantly, maybe, when the Seahawks pulled themselves out of the lane, they hurried over to coach Laura Falsone with grins warming their faces. This meet, for many of the swimmers on the deck, was a chance to relieve the pressure that can build up in the middle of the season.
“It’s not a team split into year-round swimmers and non-year-round swimmers. They’re really a cohesive group,” the coach said. “And that makes it fun for me.”
After winning the majority of events, South River swept the boys’ and girls’ meet in the first-ever county-wide meet in the Prince George’s Sports & Learning Complex. Led by senior Lauren Poole’s 3-0 record, the Seahawk girls collected 273 points, followed by Severna Park in second (160) and Broadneck in third (138); the boys outdid the pack with 240 points, trailed by Broadneck with the silver (166) and Arundel with the bronze (147).
Poole, an Olympic trials qualifier, set the standard from the very first time she glided into the water, edging Glen Burnie’s Rachel Florio by four seconds in the 200-yard freestyle.
But Poole was just warming up. As South River’s leadoff in the mixed 400-yard medley relay, Poole opened a sizable gap between the Seahawks and their opponents. When Charlie Pacher’s hand touched the wall in 3:52.41, the runner-ups were only just making their last flip-turn.
Then, with just the boys’ heats and a few girls’ heats to rest up, Poole drew out her largest individual gap of the night, propelling to a 57.24 in the 100-yard butterfly, her career-best. The number pleasantly surprised Poole, who hasn’t swam the fly in a very long time.
“It was really different than what I’ve known. I’ve only swam high school one year before this,” Poole said. “It was weird but it was fun to see everyone in the county at once before counties, but there also wasn’t as much pressure as counties.”
In fact, the whole meet was, in that sense, an exhibition of sorts.
Not every victor was the race’s fastest swimmer. A significant percentage of the 20-event meet counted as exhibition swimmers, meaning even if they made a quicker time than the rest, theirs was not considered for placement.
Some teams, like South River, chose not to go this route, instead scattering swimmers across races they wouldn’t normally try. Other schools chose to keep their best swimmers out of the running.
Broadneck’s Matt Cembrano, for instance, hit the wall in 1:49.60, which would, on another day, deliver him the gold in the 200-yard freestyle. The “x” beside his name, though, rendered him ineligible, handing South River’s Pacher the top spot (1:51.74).
On the boys’ side, Benjamin Crone shed glory on North County, as the flier stormed to victories in the 200-yard individual medley (2:03.93) and the 100 fly (54.46). Will Redford of Annapolis and Luke Schwenk of Broadneck also snapped the South River sweep with wins in the 100 and 50 freestyle, respectively.
Gathering the county dozen meant more than giving the swimmers a chance to size each other up before the county meet in a few weeks. With the incoming expansion of Crofton and Old Mill West, the county will need more facilities to hold swim meets in the future, and the PGSLC will be one of them.
“I think it was a great opportunity for our 12 schools to come together and participate in a pilot meet,” said Clayton Culp, coordinator of athletics of Anne Arundel County Public Schools. “There were some bumps, but we’ll work it out for next year.”
Culp said most of the parents and athletes he spoke to during the meet expressed that they enjoyed the facility. As for bumps, the meet lasted a little over four-and-½ hours, meant to be spread over 20 events consisting of as many as six heats apirce. Because of it, the facility cut the night short after the girls’ backstroke, leaving boys’ and girls’ breast stroke, as well as the mixed 400 freestyle relay, out.