New Jersey Jewish News
Central New Jersey Feature Story
JCC swim team caps undefeated season with state championship
Providing the perfect finish to an undefeated season, the JCC of Central New Jersey’s Barracudas swim team won the JCC League B Division State Championships, held Feb. 26 at the JCC in Scotch Plains.
In doing so, the Barracudas captured 53 first-, second-, and third-place finishes. The team also won five relays: Boys 11-12 200 medley and 200 free relay; Boys 15-18 medley and freestyle relays; and Girls 15-18 medley relay.
“The focus of the season was to have each swimmer improve his or her technique and, hopefully, times; meet new friends; and work hard and compete together as a team. Having the team excel and end up with the most points at the end of the day is just an added bonus,” said Barracudas’ head coach Laura Bransky in an e-mail to NJ Jewish News. “All the teams had amazing swimmers, and many races were very close, as were the final team scores in the end of the meet.”
Despite the team’s season-long success, Bransky and her swimmers did not take the closing meet for granted, especially because of potential obstacles: injuries, swimmers involved in other scholastic competition, and limits on roster size that meant some swimmers could not compete.
“Our swimmers truly stepped up to the blocks and gave everything they had for the team,” Bransky said. “Going into the meet, we had three in casts and several who were scheduled to swim in the NJ state high school championships in Trenton. Our team pulled together, and we had awesome swims from [athletes] filling in for those who could not make the meet. We also had important swims from swimmers who attended both their high school championships and our championships. It was truly an exciting and exhausting day.”
Alex Karlen, Allison Mack, Jackie Feinthel, and Karen Sprague serve as assistant coaches.
Up next: the Junior Maccabi Games in Philadelphia in May and the Maccabi Games in Vancouver in August.
For more information on the Barracudas or the JCC’s swim program, visit the JCC Aquatics Web site, or contact aquatics director Rebecca Rivera or by telephone 908-889-8800, ext. 219.
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