 (Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction)
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This has been a summer of change for the Nassau Swim Club Lemmings swimming program.
The club renovated its pool over the off-season with the project resulting in a gleaming new swimming facility with six full lanes and a redesigned diving area.
In competition in the Princeton-Area Swimming and Diving Association (PASDA), the Lemmings moved back into the league's Division I after dominating Division II in 2005.
While the latter development led to the Lemmings posting a 1-4 mark in dual meets, longtime head coach Bruce Nystrom said the team's passion for competition remained unchanged.
"In spite of losing four of five meets, the kids have stayed positive and have worked hard," asserted a smiling Nystrom, who has been coaching the program since 1970.
"We did well at the PASDA championship meet (held last week at the John Witherspoon pool) where we came in a pretty decent third place."
In Nystrom's view, the supportive atmosphere that has been a trademark of the club also remained a constant despite the physical changes at the facility which is tucked in a small corner of the woods near the Institute of Advanced Studies.
"What I like most about the new pool is that it fits into the same footprint as the old one," said Nystrom.
"The pool may be different but I hope the atmosphere is the same. It's about a place where people feel comfortable leaving there kids here all day and the kids want to stay all day."
While his team was admittedly short on numbers in comparison to most of the other teams in PASDA's Division I, having kids hanging around the pool all day certainly produced some quality swimmers.
"Our strengths were 8-and-under girls, the 10-and-under girls, and the 12-and-under girls," added Nystrom. "That is what allowed us to pull out points at the PASDA championship meet. They were getting points with thirds and fourths. Our 8-and-under boys did surprisingly well."
Standouts for the Lemmings in the 8-and-under girls' category included Hannah Ash, Maggie Gardner, Maddie Deardorff, and Tali Shalaby.
At the PASDA championship meet, Ash took first in the 100-yard individual medley, second in the 25 breaststroke, and third in the 25 backstroke and was named the Most Valuable Swimmer in her class.
Shalaby was second in the 25 free and third in the 25 butterfly while Deardorff was second in the 25 fly, third in the 100 IM, and fourth in the 25 free. Gardner was fourth in both the 25 backstroke and the 25 breaststroke.
In the 10-and-under girls' group, Sophia Monaghan produced a stellar effort at the championship meet. She took first in the 25 free and the 25 back and took second in the 100 IM, getting named the Most Valuable Swimmer in her group.
Other key performers for Nassau in the 10-and-under girls included Carrie Bonfield, Carla Tuan, Emily Lovett, and Annie Skoczylas.
Bonfield was fifth in the 25 free and seventh in the 25 back while Tuan was sixth in the 25 free and third in the 25 breast. Lovett placed sixth in the 25 back, fourth in the 100 fly and fifth in the 100 IM while Skoczylas was fourth in the 25 fly, fifth in the 25 breast, and sixth in the 100 IM.
In the 12-and-under girls, the Lemmings got superb performances from Ceara Bowman, June Zhang, and Serena Deardorff.
Bowman took fifth in the 50 free and third in the 50 back while Zhang was seventh in the 50 back, sixth in the 100 IM, and third in the 50 breast Deardorff placed second in the 50 fly, seventh in the 50 free, and seventh in the 100 IM.
As for the team's 8-and-under boys, Ben Segal had a big meet, placing second in the 25 free and fourth in the 25 breast in addition to helping both the 100 medley relay and 100 free relays take second.
Nassau also got some fine efforts from its veteran swimmers as Andrew Philhower starred in the 17-and-under men's age group, taking first in the 50 breast and second in both the 100 IM and 100 fly.
On the girls' side, Martha Ferguson placed second in the 17-and-under 50 breast and fifth in the 100 IM.
Nystrom is hoping his veteran swimmers will maintain the strong ties with the program that other alums have forged.
"We had a lot of the old swimmers come back on July 2 to see the new pool," said Nystrom, noting that several swimmers have used their experience at Nassau as the subject of their college admission essays.
"We had about 100 who came from all over. A bunch of us had saved some water from the old pool and put it in the new pool. I found out that night that a bunch of the swimmers from the '70s have a website where they keep in touch."
In reflecting on the reunion, Nystrom acknowledged that his perspective on the Lemmings has changed over the years.
"Winning and losing now is not as important; I don't like to lose, of course," said Nystrom.
"Everything I can do to give us an advantage I will do in terms of balancing swimmers. Even though we got hammered in some meets, it was gratifying to do well in the championship meet. They all realized they could compete and it worked out pretty well."
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