Swim Team Won't Let Snow Day Stop Focus on Beating Scotch Plains-Fanwood

The focus for the Westfield High School girls and boys swimming teams is the post-season. A slight delay from a snow storm which blanketed the Mid-Atlantic region is just part of the long journey that will hopefully end with a state championship for both. Saturday's showdown with neighboring Scotch Plains-Fanwood was called off because of the heavy snows which dumped about a foot of the white stuff in Union County.

The two rivals will now go at it Tuesday afternoon at 2:30 at the Westfield YMCA. The Westfield boys are 3-2, while the girls are 3-1. The boys were beaten by Bridgewater-Raritan 89-81 last Thursday, while the girls beat the Panthers by the same score.

"Some of the kids who swim club practiced early in the day (Saturday), but it was really just a day for us to have a day of rest,'' said Westfield coach Jeff Knight.

The meet with Scotch Plains-Fanwood will obviously carry more meaning than the other dual meets the teams will have during the winter. It will be the last meet before the teams break for Christmas break.

"We'll start back up after the first and we right to it with a meet with St. Joseph (Metuchen, Jan. 5) at the brand new Raritan Bay Area YMCA in Perth Amboy," Knight said.

The meet will also bring together two historic rivals in swimming and many other sports.

"(Scotch Plains-Fanwood met) is is a good opportunity to get good quality swimming,'' said Knight. "We're learning about ourselves and we have to do. It's a long season and preparing for the state (tournament) run.''

The boys will enter the meet with SP-F having lost their last two. The team lost to Mountain Lakes 92-78 Dec. 4  and have beaten Union, Governor Livingston and Oratory Prep. But the goal of swimmers like Matt Meserole, Larry Zhang and Mike Oster is what happens at the end of the season.

"It's a long season,'' Knight said. "It's about preparing for the stretch run."

The girls' team – led by Becky DeLaFuente, Anna Fetter, Ally Rose, Kylie Bangs, Meg Kaveney, Loren Ball and Jess Cronin - feels the same.

" All and all, I think this is going to be another great season," said girls' coach Brooke Smith said. "We definitely have a long way to go and our work is cut out. Whatever the outcome, we'll continue to do what we have to do to get ourselves to The College of New Jersey in February,'' and the state championships.

There's much to accomplish. Last year, the boys won their 10th straight Union County title and their 52nd in 53 years. The Blue Devils went on to win the Public A title.

The girls won their 17th straight Union County title, won the North Jersey, Section 2 Public A title and made it to the Public A final, but had its bid for a third straight title stopped by West Windsor South.