Nearly extinct Rams swim team in rebuilding mode with 2 new coaches and record number of tryouts

November 29, 2023 at 11:24 p.m.

Port Chester Rams swim team captains, from left, Miguel Infante-Rojos, Matthew Palma and Tiernan McLoughlin. (Courtesy photo of Colleen Cahill)

It hasn't been an easy sell. Because the question is how do you sell teenaged student-athletes from Port Chester on the idea of getting up at the stroke of dawn every school day, rain, snow, wind or shine, so they can swim for maybe an hour tops before barely having time to shower afterwards so they can make it to class on time.

The answer is it isn't an easy sell at all. Especially when the team you want the kids to swim for hasn't had a winning season in years. Or ever. Or at least in around a decade going back to the days when the team first started and Joe Durney was the athletic director. So it is really no surprise that the swimming Rams were almost extinct last year with only seven swimmers during the winter sports season, four of whom have graduated, and the Carver Center home pool not always available due to repairs.

      

The new wave

But it is a different story this year as the swimming Rams get ready to open their winter season away against Harrison Monday (12/4) at 4:30 p.m.

Because inspirational new Rams coach Colleen Cahill and her equally dedicated assistant Anton Raskin have stepped up the recruiting efforts big time.

That dynamic duo helped turn around a losing Lady Rams swim team culture. And they are already making waves with the once dormant and floundering Rams.

The record numbers

So much so that Cahill, a special education instructor in the Port Chester School District, and Raskin, a math teacher at the high school, have already turned the recruiting numbers around with their outreach. They had 18 swimmers coming out for the varsity in the first few days of tryouts. And that number grew to a record 31—including 19 seniors—once word got around that the new regime was looking to build a winner and had the expertise to do it.

Cahill swam for Fordham/Marymount, Raskin was a Long Island high school swim team sprint champion. And they were enthusiastic about the number of potential varsity candidates.

Decisions, decisions

"A handful of the tryouts were on the team their freshman or sophomore year but did not stick with it, and seeing them return for their final year and bring their friends along was wonderful," said Cahill. "So many came out for the team that we had to make cuts as there physically was not enough space in the pool at the Carver Center. We ran an 8-day tryout period where everyone who came out was given a chance not only to learn the skills with Anton Raskin and myself. We switched groups so we would work with everyone in the water and then coach more experienced swimmers from outside the pool deck. We worked with everyone and gave a fair assessment of their skills. We settled on a total roster of 26, which is still a tight squeeze in our 4-lane pool."

Those cuts weren't the only decisions the two new coaches had to make.

The new tri-captains

"We chose to have three captains this year and considered all returning swimmers who were on the team last year," according to Cahill. "We chose Matthew Palma and Miguel Infante-Rojos, who are both seniors, and a sophomore, Tiernan McLoughlin (who has trained with the elite Badgers swim team and was one of the Rams’ best swimmers last year). All three have shown unwavering commitment to the team, especially last year when our season was chaotic with practices. They also showed great leadership during the tryout sessions by leading stretches, explaining workouts, and demonstrating how to do technical skills. They each bring something unique to our team."

So Cahill was looking forward to seeing how the Rams would do against Harrison. Especially now that sophomore Santiago Marquez, the Venezuelan triathlon import who made the All-League cross country team, is back out for the swim team now that the x-country season is over. Marquez and Tiernan figure to be the Rams’ leading one-two punch this season, just as they were last year.

The new Big 3

Freshman Brandon Moody is already shaping up as a potential member of what could be a new Big 3. Tiernan, Marquez and Moody are all around swimmers who are strong in all four competitive strokes, from freestyle to fly, backstroke to sprint, and loom as potential high scorers.

As for the 50-yard freestyle, which is the fastest event for the team and most accessible to all swimmers, it will be anyone's game this year to see who will be our next breakout star," Cahill said. "We are 100% rebuilding our team from scratch. But our outreach to our students has paid off."

It hasn't been an easy sell. And it is "way too early and we still have a lot of work ahead of us before we know what kind of team we are going to have."

But the numbers are encouraging to say the least. And the team is sold on the idea that they can make this a vastly improved Rams winter swim season. Cahill and Raskin feel the same way.