Vineyard Regional High School boys swim team set three new school records at the Division II state championships at Boston University over the weekend.
The team also scored its most points ever in a state meet to wrap up a breakout season.
“Overall it was an incredible season for these swimmers and I am so proud of all the achievements they have accomplished,” said head coach Jennifer Passafiume. “It was an incredible way to finish this amazing swim season.”
Senior captain Kaua De Assis, freshman Michael Calheta and juniors Grady Stalgren and Ronan Mullin broke a school record in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:48.81. De Assis broke his own record in the 50-yard freestyle that he originally broke in January with a time of 22.71.
The last race of the evening for the boys was the 200-yard freestyle relay, where Mullin, De Assis, eighth grader Moses Thomson and senior Anthony Pruciano swam a time of 1:35.48, two seconds faster than the previous school record.
The team scored a total of placed 26th with a total of 24 points, the most points in the school’s history for the championship.
The state meet was postponed a week from its original date due to weather. This affected the coaches’ preparation for the team, according to Ms. Passafiume, especially when it was unknown for a few days when the new date would be.
“We had worked really hard the week before with strength and endurance training and we had done a really good job to taper them into last weekend,” she said. “When we found out it wasn’t happening I wasn’t sure what [MIAA] was gonna do. They could’ve come back and said we were having the championship [on Presidents Day]. We weren’t sure.”
With the new date set, the coaching staff and team quickly adjusted and went into Boston prepared and excited. Preparations included sauna and cold plunging, both for their bodies and to continue building team chemistry.
Ms. Passafiume is proud of the team’s successes this season, saying their relationships with each other out of the pool contributed to their wins in the water.
“Watching them come together as a cohesive team this year was the best,” she said. “They’re not only swimmers on the team but I think they’re all really good friends and I think that had a lot to do with how they did at states. They went in ready to push each other and cheer and celebrate with each other.”
