Swimming Looks to Rebound After Uncharacteristic Season

Following a season in which the swimming team went 5-7, the Pirates will look to rebound in 2015-2016 when their season begins on Saturday.

The sub-.500 record was the first for long-time head coach Jon David Schroeder, who has been at the helm of the program since 1997, minus a couple of years here and there.

“It was the first year under .500 ever. Two losses were to Moorestown, who’s been to the state finals four years in a row and I think they’ve won it three years in a row. R.V. is also a powerhouse,” Schroeder said.

“We split with Northern Burlington. Delran swept us for the first time in a few years. They were good. They were legit. That was a tough year last year. We didn’t have everyone at all of our bigger meets. When you have everyone there, you can do lineups a little differently.”

The Pirates are averaging anywhere from 20-24 swimmers per practice, but boast close to 40 swimmers on the roster. A lot of swimmers are club swimmers who split their time between Cinnaminson swimming and their club teams.

“We thought our numbers would be down this year. We have a strong incoming freshman class,” Schroeder said. “How they translate into points scored and how many events they will be in remains to be seen. I am looking at four freshman right now who are going to score points in the first couple of meets. If we have four freshmen who score for us, that’s pretty good.”

The swimming team is co-ed, which means that it swims against the boy’s team of an opponent when at a meet. The first meet of the season is Saturday at BCC against Rancocas Valley at 2:30pm.

“If we have everyone at a meet, I think our depth across the board might be better than last year even though we lost so many seniors (12). We have a bunch of kids who can swim okay. Hopefully, those okay swimmers can develop and score some points.”

Schroeder and assistant coach Gina Quaranta are using practices to help swimmers with little experience better learn the sport.

“Kids who have experience swimming can work on endurance, race strategy and strength during practice,” Schroeder said. “Kids who don’t have a lot of experience, who haven’t been in a lot of meets, we’re finding ourselves teaching flip turns, how to dive and what different strokes are.”

The Pirates will swim in Central, Group B this season, according to the NJSIAA. Group B is also home to rivals Delran and Moorestown, both of whom are on the schedule twice.

Cinnaminson also swims twice against R.V., Pemberton, Holy Cross and Northern Burlington. The Pirates five wins last year came against Holy Cross (twice), Pemberton (twice) and Northern Burlington.

“Delran, Northern Burlington and Holy Cross will be competitive this year. The kids look forward to the closer meets. A 10 point meet, whether you’re winning or losing, is a fun meet. A 60 point meet, whether you’re winning or losing, isn’t fun,” Schroeder said.

“Meets that come down to the free relays or meets where it comes down to who’s placed in what event to score. They really feed off of that and seem to get really fired up for that.

The swimming season for the Pirates opens Saturday, December 5 at 2:30pm when the team takes on Rancocas Valley at BCC.

Important Dates:

January 23: SJSCA Invitational at GCIT at 8am.
January 29: BCSL Open at 5pm at BCC.
February 5: Sectional Quarterfinals.
February 8: Sectional Semifinals at GCIT.
February 20: Public State Championships