EHHS and Co-op Swim to the Finals of CT State Championship and SCCs

The EHHS Co-op girls swim team took on SCCs and the State Championship after a successful 2022 season. The EHHS Co-op girls swim team season is coming to an end.  The SCC athletes Julia Rosado, Abigail Brooks, Alexis Lamprea, Kate Kim, Madeline Bourdeau, Diana Melnyk, and Coach Boisvert who also is an English teacher at EHHS has a mixture of emotions on how states were going to be but the team was prepared to face the other schools. Alexis Lamprea stated, “In swimming, we don’t really come up with any game plans or plays, just make sure you swim fast!”

With SCCs and State Championships the girls were prepared for the challenge. The SCCs were on November 1st and November 3rd. The qualifiers of SCCs took place at the Cheshire community pool and the finals were at SCSU. For the SCC finals the team placed 14th out of 17 overall.

The results of SCC finals were…

INDIVIDUALS (places are out of 32):

- 100 yd butterfly: Julia Rosado (Hillhouse)

Time: 1:00:84, 5th place!

- 100 yd backstroke: Julia Rosado (Hillhouse)

Time: 00:59:02, 3rd place!

- 500 yd freestyle: Madeline Bordeau (Sound)

Time: 6:24:36, 30th place

- 100 yd Breaststroke: Kate Kim (Hillhouse)

Time: 1:16:58, 11th place

- 200 yd Individual medley: Kate Kim (Hillhouse)

Time: 2:33:16, 22nd place

RELAY TEAMS (places are out of 17):

200 yd medley relay: Abigail Brooks (EHHS), Kate Kim (Hillhouse), Julia Rosado (Hillhouse), Diana Melnyk (EHHS)

Time: 2:08:01, 14th place

200 yd freestyle relay: Madeline Bordeau (Sound), Alexis Lamprea (EHHS), Abigail Brooks (EHHS), Diana Melnyk (EHHS)

Time: 2:00:94, 17th place

400 yd freestyle relay: Madeline Bordeau (Sound), Kate Kim (Hillhouse), Abigail Brooks (EHHS), Julia Rosado (Hillhouse)

Time: 4:10:53, 12th place

State qualifiers are to check and see who will be able to compete in states. In order to qualify for state finals you have to be in the top 24 in all divisions(S, M, L, LL) and have to go on a certain time to be able to participate in states. S, M, L, and LL are different divisions which teams are divided into for state trials/finals. The division of the team depends on the population in your school, since New Haven schools have a large population of students with East Haven combined, the whole team is in class LL. In swimming, all relay teams are automatically qualified for states but only certain athletes are able to qualify to swim in individual events. State trials start on November 12, 2022, state finals are on November 16, 2022, and states open on November 20, 2022.

The score overall this season was 2-10. The small number of athletes on the team made it more difficult to compete, but it was easier for the coach to focus on each player individually. The athletes could have more one-on-one time where they could focus on what they need to improve to help their technique. The season has been rough since the Co-op team goes against teams twice their size, but the girls have managed to pull two wins as well as several close matches. Julia Rosado, one of the team captains stated, “I’m really proud of all of the girls this year. I’m glad that they were all willing to step out of their comfort zone and try new things.”

Even though there were many losses, there was still a large improvement this year. The team always thinks on the bright side and had fun throughout the season working together. Ms. Boisvert is proud of the hard work the girls have done: “Though their in-season meets were rocky at times, the post-season has been absolutely fantastic! We're seeing best times, not only for the current season but also career-best (meaning the fastest they've swum throughout their entire career as a competitive swimmer). I could not be prouder of the hard work these ladies have put into this season, and I believe our record of being the smallest team in the SCC/LL Class with a decent amount of wins and first-place races proves just how dedicated this team is.” Overall the team's dynamic was great this year with the captains pulling through and dominating the events.

If you are looking to join the swim team next season, get in your paperwork early. You can attend the sessions and you can talk to current members to get an idea of what you would do on the team and the team dynamic is. In order to try out you’ll have to be able to know how to swim legal freestyle. Legal freestyle is when your head stays in the water and you breathe to the sides, not up. If you want to improve your skills before the next swim you can look into taking swim lessons over the summer or join a club team in one of the neighboring towns.