The boys and girls swim teams have begun to prepare for their state meets coming up on February 26 and February 27. They will head into the final meet of the year feeling good about themselves after both sides had a strong showing at their sectional meets this past weekend. The girls finished fourth out of 34 teams with 155 points while the boys finished eighth out of 40 teams with 80.5 points on their end of things.
“Overall it was a really strong weekend for us,” head coach Jim Pignato said. “It was a hard fourth place finish for us on the girls side just because we set the bar a little high. But we tied the highest placement we have ever had. We did this in 2017 and 2019.”
“On the boys side of things, we had five of them. We were in the high teens all meet and then on the last two relays (the 100 yard backstroke and 100 yard breaststroke) we were able to catapult into the top ten which is really nice. That was a great way to end the meet and add some momentum going into states.”
Pignato said using sectionals as their measuring stick, they can come away concluding they didn’t see the big drops and strong times that they were hoping to see.
“But that is understandable because we aren’t in that part of the training cycle yet,” he said. “I think kids were a little bit disappointed with some of the times and we were adding a little bit here and there but the messaging this week will be that you weren’t fully rested, not fully tapered, and the end game is states, not sectionals. So we are going to continue on with the training cycle with these kids up until state weekend.”
Senior Emma Davis had the best all-around day for Nantucket. She finished third in the 50 yard freestyle and fifth in 100 yard freestyle. She was also strong in her team performances, not just individual, helping her team finish third in the 200 yard medley relay and 400 yard freestyle relay.
“She was definitely the strongest overall for the girls,” Pignato said.
Eighth grader Maddie Bartleman broke the school record in the 100 yard backstroke for the second consecutive meet. She did the same thing during league championships as well.
“Maddie had a really fabulous swim,” Pignato said. “She finished 11th I think in that event. It speaks to the field that she is in that she is breaking our school record and finishing 11th.”
Pignato said it isn’t so much the speed of his girl swimmers that worries him ahead of states but more so whether they are prepared to deal with the pressure of dealing with swimmers who are equally as fast as them.
“The girls program isn’t faced with adversity too often so to meet that adversity and rise up while facing it is something we are going to learn how to do in states,” Pignato said. “Having the Weston and Wayland meet canceled on us, I mean, those meets are on our schedule for a specific reason. So having those meets taken away from us, we aren’t used to this environment. It isn’t just about fast swimming, it is about how you deal with not being the top dog.”
Pignato said junior swimmer Justin Roethke had a very strong showing at sectionals but still has room to be even faster in the pool.
“Roethke was probably our top male swimmer,” Pignato said. “First clean sectional for him as a junior. He looked really strong in the water and after we rest him he is going to look even stronger. His underwaters were brilliant but you could tell he was a little fatigued from training. So once he is fully rested he will be ready to go.
Pignato said senior captain Kevin Johnson also had a strong day and thrives in these types of environments.
“Like I said, my message to these guys is that this is just a stop along the way,” Pignato said. “States are the end game. But Justin is next in line to sort of grab that baton after this season when Kevin graduates, so it was great to see him perform the way he did.”
Pignato also had strong praise for eighth grader Parker Valero, who qualified for states in the 100 yard breaststroke, along with seventh grader Eli MacIver and his performance in the relays.
“We would have carried Parker along as a relay swimmer but to give him another event in states is a positive thing,” Pignato said. “We threw Eli in as a lead off to the 200 yard freestyle relay. That wasn’t really in our plans but the kid is in seventh grade so we said let’s give him this opportunity. That is an investment in the future. We are giving him the shot now so he can learn and grow from this and continue to improve. It is those experiences we can give those kids early on in their careers that will help them grow.”
