Following a long hiatus, the Pirates swim team finally got back in the water on Saturday morning with a meet against Northern Burlington at BCC in Pemberton.
The long break did not hurt the Pirates, who came away with a 98-72 victory over the Greyhounds to move to 5-2 on the season.
“They picked it up right where we left off,” head coach Dave Schroeder said. “They swam really well. Medley relay swam pretty well. The 200 Free with Robert Sandeen, who had a 1:59 for the best time. We were missing four of our better kids today, but the ones who filled in did a really good job.”
Cinnaminson got off to a very strong start, winning the opening event, and never looked back.
“It gives us a lot of confidence, especially since last year we didn’t do this well,” Lily Black said. “We just want to keep improving. We’re really focused this year and we have a lot more depth.”
That opening event, the 100 yard medley event, was a 12-2 victory. The quartet of Ben Kern, Jack Conville, Avery Mancine and Robert Sandeen finished first with a time of 1:58.03 as Kern took the top spot in the event with a time of 0:29.3.
“It sets the tone for the meet. We kind of expected to win the A relay there. We didn’t expect to go 1-2, but we did,” Schroeder said. “It puts a damper on it when another team can 1-2 you in the medley. It makes it real tough emotionally to come back and that might be what happened today.”
The Pirates tied the second event, the 200 yard free as Robert Sandeen won the event with a time of 1:59.10.
Lily Black won the 200 yard IM with a time of 2:17.28, Kern won the 50 yard freestyle with a time of 23.26, Robert Sandeen won the 100 yard fly with a time of 1:02.16 and Avery Mancine won the 100 yard freestyle with a time of 54.15.
Black came in second in the 100 yard freestyle with a time of 54.52, which the third school record that Black has broken this season. Black broke the 500 freestyle and the 200 freestyle earlier this season with times of 5:12.01 and 1:58.05, respectively.
“It’s really fun, especially since the 100, I didn’t think I would get it because I had practice this morning,” Black said. “When I got it, it was really exciting. Everyone else gets excited and it gives us a more competitive edge and more spirit.”
Kern also won the 100 yard backstroke with a time of 1:02.85 for the Pirates.
The first event the Pirates lost on the day was the 500 yard freestyle. The win for Northern Burlington brought them within 28 points of Cinnaminson.
Northern Burlington won the 100 yard breaststroke to pull the meet within 20 points at 88-68 in favor of Cinnaminson. It was the closest they would get to the Pirates since trailing by 10 after the opening event.
To cap the event, the Pirates won the 400 yard free relay with a time of 3:48.40 by the quartet of Black, Jack Conville, Andrew Sandeen and Kern.
“We are very, very pleased,” Schroeder said when asked about where the team stands now. “I said it a few years ago, I thought we were the best co-ed team around. I kind of think that again now. I’d really like to take on some more co-ed teams. I’d really love that to happen.”
Four swimmers qualified for the South Jersey Invitational on Saturday morning, with one swimmer qualifying in two events. Robert Sandeen qualified in the 200 Freestyle with a time of 1:59, Natalie Smith qualified in the 100 Fly with a time of 1:10, Ben Kern qualified for the 100 Backstroke with a time of 1:02 and Andrew Sandeen qualified for the 500 Freestyle and the 100 Backstroke with times of 5:41 and 1:05, respectively.
Cinnaminson has now defeated every co-ed squad they have faced so far in 2015-2016 and return to the pool to face Holy Cross on Monday night at 7:35pm at BCC.
“We will put in a slightly different lineup on Monday and will look for anyone who might have an outside chance to qualify and they’ll have that last chance on Monday to try to make a cut time,” Schroeder said.
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