Swimming Rams set 18 personal records while losing a deuce in latest dual meets

January 18, 2024 at 12:02 a.m.

Freshman Hayden Anti, an experienced swimmer who just joined the Rams swim team, dives in for his leg of the freestyle relay while Andrew Tapia finishes his in an away meet against Mount Vernon/Tuckahoe on Thursday, Jan. 11. (Courtesy photo of Colleen Cahill)

It hasn't exactly been swimsuit weather lately, but the Port Chester Rams swim team has nonetheless been getting along swimmingly, emerging from the pool looking like winners even though they lost a deuce and the cold facts suggest otherwise, leading their coach to say a loss is not a loss when the team keeps making progress and breaking so many records.

"Even with the losses, we keep making so much overall team progress, so that can't be a loss," says inspirational coach Colleen Cahill.

      

On the surface, the scoreboard says the Rams lost to a combined Mount Vernon/Tuckahoe squad by 16 points away and by a deuce to Pearl River at home in the past week.

Beneath the surface

But beneath the surface of those losses, those Ls indicate the Rams are learning, churning and earning the respect of their peers because they set 12 and six personal records in those respective meets, scored their highest point total of the year. They have already come a long way from a team that was down to just eight swimmers last year and sinking fast with barely enough swimmers to keep the program afloat.

But in came Cahill who turned around the losing Lady Rams swim team culture and is on a mission to do the same with the Rams.

As the new coach, Cahill has stepped up recruiting along with her assistant coach Anton Raskin and re-invigorated the Rams to the point where they are now competitive with senior co-captains like Miguel Infante-Rojas and Mathew Palma recruiting upperclassmen while sophomore co-captain Tiernan McLoughlin has been doing the same with the underclassmen.

A tough sell

It hasn't been an easy sell. Especially during the Rams winter swimming season. Because the swimming Rams practice daily weekdays starting at 5:45 a.m. in the Carver Center pool, leaving barely enough time to shower, change and make it to class on time. And that's in all kinds of weather. And doesn't include two days lifting and doing calisthenics in the high school gym.

But the tri-captains have shared their expertise with the newcomers as have the coaches and word has gotten around the school that the new swim team regime really cares about the student-athletes.

As the saying goes, the athletes don't care about how much the coach knows, they care about how much the coach cares.

And Cahill and Raskin care. As well as being in the know because Cahill was a collegiate swimmer for Fordham/Tarrytown and Raskin swam distance for Yonkers.

Anti ups count

    Freshman Brandon Moody finishes the 100 butterfly in the Mount Vernon/Tuckahoe meet.
 Courtesy of Colleen Cahill   

The result is that the Ram team now has 30 swimmers on the roster, the most recent addition being freshman Hayden Anti, an experienced swimmer who joins Brandon Moody and McLoughlin as an already impressive freshman/sophomore core.

"So we are already looking ahead to future seasons as the underclassmen benefit from their early varsity experience even as our upperclassmen continue to improve," according to Cahill. "And now we have enough swimmers on our roster to be able to compete in every event while the team keeps on getting better up and down the line. We establish the base lines for every swimmer. And watch them grow."

That growth has been evident in their most recent meets.

By the numbers

In the 100-84 loss to the combined Mount Vernon/Tuckahoe team last Thursday (1/11), for example, the Rams swam their way to 12 personal best records (PRs) in a variety of events:

*McLoughlin raced his way to PRs in the 200 individual medley, the 100 breast-stroke and the 50-yard freestyle.

*Infante-Rojas set PRs in the 200 free and 100 breast-stroke.

*Juan Mejia churned his way to PRs in the 200 and the 50 free.

And so it went up and down the roster with more PRs, including Christian Yupanqui (50 free), Andres Chica (200 free), Jason Espinal (50 free), Aldair Mallama (100 free) and Palma (100 butterfly).

Santiago Marquez and Anthony LaBella were the Ram high scorers in that meet.

The close loss

The Rams made it even closer in their 47-45 loss to Pearl River at home in the Carver Center pool last Friday (1/12).

In that meet, the swimmers setting PRs included Marquez (200 intermediate), William Langenbach (500 and 100 freestyle), Infante-Rojas (200 free) and Jordan Moncada Roman (100 free).

But what made the close duel against Pearl River even more memorable was the fact that it was the first meet in which the Rams held the lead right up until the final three events. The Rams were up 14-11 after the first three events, leading 18-15 at halftime and 34-33 with three events to go. "It represents quite an accomplishment because it shows our team depth and how our numbers helped us win so many valuable points," according to Cahill. "We have come a long way in such a short time with a team comprised of so many new swimmers. And they keep on getting better."

The team spirit

She was especially impressed by the close-knit team spirit with the Rams continually cheering on all their colleagues, an esprit extending up and down a roster that also includes Glickson Diaz Lopez, Jacob Gordillo, Sergio and Daniel Morales, Kevin Pintado, Daniel Recinos, Jeremy Salazar, Luis Sigua, Andrew Tapia, Aaron Vega and Jeremy Zhapan.

And hopefully the resurgent Rams will have a lot more to cheer about in their next meet Friday (1/20) at 4:30 p.m. at the Hommocks Pool Complex in Mamaroneck against a combined Rye/Rye Neck and Blind Brook team. Because it is just a matter of time before all those PRs start turning into Ws as well.