First-time participants in the swim at Algonquin
By Ken Powers Community Reporter
Northborough/Southborough - A large contingent of Algonquin Regional High School students, led by a trio of senior divers, decided to join the Tomahawks swim team this season, much to the delight of coach Jean Fedak.

"It's been such a nice surprise, not only having so many students join the team," Fedak said, "but having so many seniors decide to participate for the first time."

The first-year divers are Alexis Morin, Kyle Harris and Tim Martin.

All three have made significant progress since the beginning of the season, led by Morin, who is two-thirds of the way to qualifying for the sectional competition, to be held later in the season, and a third of the way to qualifying for states. Harris is one-third of the way along the path to qualifying for sectionals.

"To watch their enthusiasm and commitment to participating in and learning a new sport has been fun," Fedak said. "It's exciting to watch three kids enter a new sport as seniors and fall passionately in love with it. To see them grin, to see their faces light up, to see their excitement grow with each successful dive has been heartwarming for me."

While Morin and Harris have been on teams previously - both have competed in gymnastics - this is the first time Martin has ever been on a team of any kind.

"That's really rare," Fedak said. "Not only to have a senior join a team for the first time, but to have a student who's never been on a team of any kind? I can't remember it ever happening before in my time as a coach."

Other seniors in the pool for the first time include Tom Griff ey, Peter Antkowiak and Dennis McNamara.

"Tom was one of our top three sprinters, but he recently broke his arm, so his season is over," Fedak said, "and Peter had been on the ski team, but this year decided to trade in the cold of the slopes for the warmth of the pool. It's amazing the number of seniors we've had come out of the woodwork and join the team."

Those students have helped push the number of seniors on the 48-member team to about 15. Leading the class, and the team, are tri-captains Meg Doyle, Andrew Clementi and Mo Nachum.

The Tomahawks have started strong, entering the week with a 5-2 record.

"Last year we had some strong swimmers on the team, but not the depth you need to really compete with other teams," Fedak said. "This year, with all the first-time swimmers we have on the team, we're able to compete better because we're much deeper."

In addition to the first-time seniors, the Tomahawks have a large number of freshmen on the roster, including Ellie Temte, Annie Ludwig, Taylor Kaminski, Kelsey Mullin, Kelsey Guilford, Ben Willis, Glynis Healey and Hannah Lubner.

In addition to raving about her swimmers, Fedak took time to praise the eff orts of assistant coaches Andrew Morton and Cathy Connelly.

"Their expertise is invaluable," Fedak said. "Without them I don't know how we'd have a team. Actually, we wouldn't. I couldn't do this alone; the team is simply too large."

Fedak also lauded the eff orts of student managers Karissa O'Keefe, Stephanie Shelton and Krystle Doucette, who assist in the scoring and timing of meets, along with everything else they do.