by AJ Ortega and Tim Skeval
Jamesville-DeWitt/Christian Brothers Academy Boys Varsity Swimming has just finished their season in the water. They are 8-1 heading into sectionals, after they were handed their first loss of the season by their arch rivals, Liverpool High School, 101-84, on Wednesday, Jan. 27.
Going into that meet, the J-D/CBA boys knew what they were up against. “I was worried about them because they beat us last year, ending our perfect season,” said senior co-captain Casey Sawyer, whose fears of a repeat cam true. He was disappointed in the result, but said “we lost to a tough team.”
On Jan. 20, the boys competed in the OHSL tournament taking home the title with a 101-80 victory over Fulton High School. “We killed them. We won every event,” said freshman Michael Potamianos. J-D/CBA also set two OHSL tournament relay records, the 200-medley and 200-free relay records. “It’s pretty awesome that our team set two records,” said freshman Liam Kaplan.
J-D/CBA will be sending 30 out of 41 of their swimmers to sectionals, the most ever in school history. Sectionals will be held at Nottingham High School on Friday, Feb. 12. As tradition goes, every year, the swimmers that are participating in sectionals bleach their hair, before shaving their heads just before the meet. Their are mixed emotions about this tradition within team. Some swimmers only bleach their hair because they want to keep the tradition going. “I only do it because it’s a tradition. I don’t want to break it,” said Sawyer. Other swimmers are pressured into bleaching their hair by their teammates. “They made me do it,” said Jackson Kaplan, who will be competing in the 100-meter backstroke.
Saturday Feb. 13 is the day every J-D/CBA swimmer has been waiting for. Swimmers like sophomores Owen Farchione and David Chen are “nervous” but are “ready” for the big day. “(I) have been preparing for this all year,” said Farchione. Chen said he wouldn’t have shaved his head if it wasn’t worth it.
