Feb. 6, 2026
By Bruce Bartlett
Staff Writer
The swim team, which is co-oped with North Arlington High School, ended a tough season on Jan. 31 with a 2-6 record for the boys and girls teams.
With this season behind them, sophomore Roman Otrosnov, a two-year swimmer who specializes in the 200-meter individual medley and the 200-meter relay, said he is looking ahead to next season.
“We need to improve upon our strategy and really improve most people’s strokes and techniques,” Otrosnov said. “We also need more [swimmers] to join.”
Both teams have relatively low membership. The girls team has 10 swimmers, while the boys team has 15 swimmers.
Otrosnov said the team’s health and stamina suffered due to the physical demands of competing in multiple events.
“The lack of players is very noticeable,” Otrosnov said. “Some [swimmers] are swimming four difficult events pretty much back to back.”
Sophomore Esteban Manjarres, a two-year swimmer who specializes in the 100-meter backstroke and the 100-meter breaststroke, said that despite losing five male swimmers due to graduation last June, the boys team exceeded his expectations this season.
“The loss of most of our [experienced] swimmers hurt the team, but we got some good new swimmers, and our old swimmers [improved] a lot this year,” Manjarres said.
He said having started swimming at a young age helped him grow and develop his skills.
“When I was five and still living in Colombia, I joined my first club to [officially] start swimming as a sport, and I haven’t turned back,” Manjarres said.
He said he enjoys the attention to detail that is required to be a successful swimmer.
“I love everything about swimming,” Manjarres said. “You not only need to manage your breathing well, but also… kicks and pulls. It really makes you concentrate a lot on those small things.”
Senior captain Evangelise Amaya, a four-year swimmer who specializes in the 100-meter butterfly and the 200-meter individual medley, said the swimmers need to work on avoiding small mistakes during meets.
“[Head] Coach Frew is really focusing on not getting disqualified. [In] a lot of the boys meets, they lose points because their swimmers get disqualified. Same thing with the girls meets. They false start,” Amaya said. “They don’t touch the wall with two hands. It’s just a lot of little things that cost you a lot of big points in [the] long term.”
Amaya said the team’s spirit had been low due to the intimidation factor of being outnumbered by opposing teams.
“Our lack of members for the girls’ team… holds us back a lot…. Going up against teams that have 20 kind of destroys morale,” Amaya said. “It’s really difficult, especially for the newer ones [to take on multiple events]. They get nervous swimming in all the races.”
“The loss of most of our [experienced] swimmers hurt the team, but we got some good new swimmers, and our old swimmers [improved] a lot this year.”
Senior captain Carley Paserchia, a four-year swimmer who specializes in the 100-meter backstroke, said low membership almost forced the girls to become co-ed, meaning they would have had to compete against boys teams.
“Luckily, we had just enough people where we didn’t have to, [but] it’s been a lot more difficult having a tiny team,” Paserchia said.
She said, compared to last year, the swimmers have been more supportive of each other, forming a strong community.
“Everyone’s a lot more excited for their teammates, and everyone gets really happy when someone or one of their friends gets first place or second place,” Paserchia said. “[Especially] when they do actually win, it’s a really big celebration.”
