The Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School swim teams have found success this season, with the boys’ team undefeated in league meets and some swimmers already qualifying for the state championships.
Senior captain Kaua De Assis and junior Ronan Mullin have qualified for states, and De Assis broke a school record in December in the 50-yard freestyle event.
On Saturday, the boys’ team defeated rival Nantucket 85-81 in a tough matchup. The win was an important one, said head coach Jen Passafiume.
“This past Saturday, watching the whole team rally together knowing that it was going to be a really tough meet for us, and they all got everybody psyched up and dialed in,” she said.
On Tuesday, the boys’ team officially became the Cape and Island League dual meet champions with a win over Nauset 101-61.
She credits the success this year to the overall growth of the team. When she started as an assistant coach in 2018, the team (boys and girls) consisted of around 20 swimmers. Now, there’s up to 60 kids on the team.
“A lot of it is the kids really getting excited about swimming and then telling their friends, and so now they’re bringing more people to the team that maybe knew how to swim, but had never competed,” Ms. Passafiume said. “Within a couple weeks, they learned all the strokes and were competing at a pretty high level.”
Ms. Passafiume is also the aquatics director and swim coach for the Makos Swim Club at the YMCA. For her, watching the kids develop over the years, from learning how to swim to becoming fierce competitors, is a thrill.
“It’s pretty amazing to watch them grow through the years and figure out what events are the best for them, and watch their times improve as they go over the years, and watch the camaraderie of the team,” she said.
Ms. Passafiume has a long history with swimming, teaching lessons since
she was 16, and competing for Team USA on the aqua-bike.
“Swimming is one of those things on the Island where it’s not just a sport, it’s a life skill,” she said. “It can be life and death for people on the Island. So I think knowing how to swim is ultimately one of the most important things, and it’s always been a really big passion of mine to just make sure everybody knows how to swim.”
Mullin said he enjoys how improvement in swimming can be easily measured.
“With swimming, when it’s just you, you know what you’ve done wrong and when it’s your fault,” Mullin said. “Then you get to figure out how to improve and the only improvement is getting faster, which is just a number.”
De Assis said during this final year, he is focusing on continuing to work hard and enjoy the moment.
“Saturday was my last home meet,
so I’m just trying to have fun through these last couple of meets,” he said. “I’m still practicing really hard. I want to get some good times in the day before the season ends.”
He added that he is thankful for what the sport has done for him beyond the water.
“Swimming opened up so many doors for me,” De Assis said. “I really love the sport, and I started here at the YMCA with Jen, so saying goodbye to everything is a little sad.”
The Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School swim team will compete in the Cape and Island league championships on Feb. 1.
Comments
Comment policy »