BACK BURNER: Princeton High boys’ swimmer Natan Wysocki displays his backstroke form in a meet earlier this season. Freshman Wysocki emerged as a star this winter, helping PHS go 8-3 on the way to making the semifinal round of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) North 2, Group B tournament. (Photo by Frank Jacobs III)
By Bill Alden
With several newcomers making their debut in state competition for the Princeton High boys’ swimming team as it hosted South Plainfield in a sectional contest, the squad’s young performers rose to the occasion.
“They were gearing up for that meet, we have a pretty large freshman class with 10 guys,” said PHS head coach Patrick Remboski, whose third-seeded Tigers defeated sixth-seeded South Plainfield 99-71 in the quarterfinal round of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) North 2, Group B tournament on February 4. “It was super helpful for us this year after losing all of those seniors. They were great. It was their first state meet, they had the CVC tournament but this is a dual meet.”
Individual standouts for PHS in the meet included freshman Stephen Baytin, who placed first in the 100-yard breaststroke and second in the 200 individual medley and sophomore newcomer Eito Sakaguchi. the winner of the 50 freestyle and the runner-up in the 100 free.
While PHS ran into a buzz saw as it fell 100-70 to second-seeded Smith Plains-Fanwood in the sectional semis on February 9, Remboski believed his young swimmers gained some valuable experience.
“It is a hard adjustment for a lot of student athletes leaving early from school,” said Remboski. “You have to get on a bus at 12:00 and you are at a swimming at a pool after being on a bus for an hour. It is different. It was just a learning experience. I was overall happy with the meet. We had some good times.”
Junior standout Daniel Da Costa starred in the defeat, winning both the 50 free and 100 butterfly while Baytin prevailed in the 100 breast.
Reflecting on the campaign, which saw PHS post an 8-3 record, Remboski credited his new faces with making a big impact.
“It was the young guys filling in the gaps,” said Remboski, whose freshman standouts included Natan Wysocki, Jayden Zheng, and Jason Zhu in addition to Baytin. “Before the season started and we got the official list of who registered, we were a little bit nervous after losing all of these seniors. We were concerned about how we were going to fill certain roles and then we got this freshman group in and Eito transferring in. We also had another transfer, Abhinav Sukla, who is a junior. He was a tremendous help for us as well. We had 12 newcomers.”
The squad’s quartet of seniors, Shawn Elwood, Rex Zhang, Kaden Li, and Liam Duneier, was a big help for the squad.
“Shawn and Rex are four-year guys, Kaden was two years and Lia was in his first year,” said Remboski, noting that Elwood and Zhang served as team captains. “They have a lot to manage. Shawn was a great leader and he had a great season as well.”
The team’s junior group of Michael Chorba, Darren Elwood, Sergio Navarro, John Staples, Sukla and Da Costa give the Tigers a good nucleus of veterans.
“John and Michael were voted captains this year as juniors, which doesn’t happen all of the time,” said Remboski. “They had some nice swims and are just good guys to have on the deck, they understand that all of the little things matter. It was great to have them. The progress made by Da Costa is really incredible. He is like a Swiss army knife, you can put him in almost any event.”
Looking ahead to next winter, Remboski believes the program will keep making progress.
“There is also a rising eighth grade class that is pretty strong,” said Remboski. “We lose kids to private schools every year. No matter where people go, I think we are going to be strong regardless.”