Don’t Count Us Out (Delbarton Swimming)

Don’t count us out. We don’t forget easily.

Four years ago, Br. Paul had to beg people to join the swim team. He stood up at a morning meeting and asked for swimmers. He succeeded in his endeavor, but in the end, Delbarton only had twelve swimmers. Today, we have nearly doubled the size of the team.

Delbarton Swimming has been perfect this season. Literally. At 8-0 and ranked at No. 17 in the state by NJ.com, the team looks to complete the miracle season with two key meets left: one against No. 10 Morristown and the final one versus Mendham. Morris County powerhouse.  These meets will prove to be the team’s biggest test of the season. I wouldn’t count Delbarton out, though.

Delbarton added five straight wins before the New Year. Undermanned, the team had a convincing 103-67 over the deep Morris County contender, Chatham. Right after break, the team came together for their biggest meet of the season thus far against St. Peter’s Prep. Last year, St. Peter’s Prep dramatically ended Delbarton’s dual meet season with a 118-52 victory over the Green Wave. At the start of the season, the Prep was ranked No. 6 and then No. 12 by NJ.com. That had no effect on the unranked Green Wave, however, as they went on to defeat St. Peter’s Prep in a sound 93-77 victory. NJ.com called the victory “one of the biggest upsets of the season to this point.”

The Green Wave’s success this year is due largely to the very knowledgeable coaching staff. Head coach John Romagna constantly works on a one to one level with individual swimmers, focusing largely on technique. Assistant coach Maureen Pearsall helps swimmers to adjust their attitudes and approach every race with both poise and their best effort. Team chaplain Fr. Edward Seton brings great positive spirit to the team and manages the team’s social media with live-tweets of the scores of the meets.

After the battle of Morristown on Friday January 22, the Green Wave are looking to win the Morris County Championship on January 30 at Morristown High School and then the New Jersey State Prep Championships on February 2 at Lawrenceville.

Go Wave

Full roster:

Class of 2016:

Captain: Jade Rice

Captain: Tim Sienko

Captain: Christian Gubler

Captain: Joe O’Reilly

Captain: Aidan Duffy

Manager: James Dolan

Class of 2017:

Michael Tortorella

Peter Shepanzyk

Norman Chen-Liaw

Patrick Zhang

Chris DeGrandpre

Class of 2018:

Jonathan Hua

Brandon Li

Giancarlo Calle

Eric Kohut

Niko Restifo
Sean Taylor

Class of 2019:

David Wang

Jack Townsend

Nick Mathus

Thomas Shepanzyk

Max Alexy

Manager: John Patrick Walsh