ON THE FLY: Princeton High boys’ swimmer Daniel Da Costa heads to a second place finish in the 100-meter butterfly last Saturday at the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) Swimming Championships at the WW/P-North pool. Junior Da Costa also took second in the 50 freestyle to help PHS finish third in the team standings at the meet won by WW/P-South. (Photo by Frank Jacobs III)

By Bill Alden

After taking a long hiatus from swimming, Daniel Da Costa returned to the pool last year when he joined the Princeton High boys’ swim team.

Having last competed at age eight, Da Costa quickly got up to speed, emerging as a key performer for the squad.

Last Saturday, Da Costa continued his rapid ascension in the sport, taking second in both the 50-meter freestyle and the 100 butterfly at the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) Swimming Championships at the WW/P-North pool, helping PHS finish third in the team standings at the meet won by WW/P-South.

“Last year, I didn’t qualify at all in the individual events in either the A or B final,” said Da Costa. “I have only been swimming for one year. It is great, the progression has been really good. I used to swim when I was eight years old. I already swam so it was easy to get the technique back.”

While Da Costa is still fine-tuning his technique, he was happy with his races on Saturday.

“I knew the guy I was racing (Julien Fang of WW/P-South) in the 50 free, he is on my club team so we have been racing for a while,” said Da Costa, who joined the Princeton Tigers Aquatics Club (PTAC) after making his high school debut. “So it was really fun to race him. The fly was good, my turns were lacking but that was still really good.”

Competing in his A finals, Da Costa fed off the energy coming from the PHS squad.

“Everyone has been working really hard, I think everyone was ready,” said Da Costa. “We had a good prelims so we were ready to go to finals and try to place good in the relays which give the most points.”

PHS head coach Patrick Remboski is excited by the good work he is getting from Da Costa.

“It was incredible,” said Remboski of Da Costa. “He is a really fierce competitor and we can always count on him.”

A pair of freshmen, Stephen Baytin and Natan Wysocki, displayed their competitive spirit at the CVC meet. Baytin took fourth in the 200 individual medley and third in the 400 free while Wysocki placed eighth in the 100 backstroke and 11th in the 400 free.

“I was super proud of both of both of them, especially as freshmen,” said Remboski as PHS saw its three-year winning streak at the meet come to an end. “It is always tough to pick and choose what events they are in. We have these guys who can swim multiple events.”

Remboski got a number of other good swims from his boys’ squad at the CVC meet. Senior Shawn Elwood took seventh in the 50 free and 11th in the 100 free while sophomore Eito Sakaguchi placed fourth in the 50 free and third in the 100 free, sophomore Gabriel Colon finished seventh in the 400 free and 11th in 200 IM, junior Michael Chorba took seventh in the 100 free and 9th in the 200 free, and junior Sergio Navarro placed 10th in the 50 free.

“I was super happy with Shawn’s 50 free,” said Remboski. “Chorba had some great swims in his events as well a lot of these young guys in Gabriel, Eito and Sergio. It was a good team event.”

With PHS next in action when it competes in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) North 2, Group B Tournament where it is seeded third and will host a quarterfinal meet on February 5, Da Costa believes that the Tigers will benefit from the CVC competition.

“It is good for the relays to know what works and what doesn’t and who is going swim each leg,” said Da Costa. “It is great practice, it is such a fun meet.”