Boys and Girls Swimming
2024-2025 season: Boys: 4-7 Girls: 0-11
Coach: Corey Besz (Boys) and Carson Bowes (Girls)
Key Swimmers: Niko Destefano (Boys Senior), Logan Hardel (Boys Senior), Brandon He (Boys Junior)
New Faces: Kelsey Collins (Girls Freshman) and Shannon He (Girls Freshman)
Home Game to Watch: Upper Perk-Pottsgrove-Upper Merion Tri-meet on January 6th at 3:45 PM at the Vikings Aquatic Center
Outlook:
The Vikings, coached by Corey Besz and Carson Bowes, are looking to bounce back from last season. The Boys, 4-7 last season, keep their eyes set on making a playoff run and the girls, 0-11 last season, look to build a strong foundation by breaking through with wins. Key returning swimmers include Logan Hardel, Senior, who swims Breastroke, the Individual Medley (IM), and Freestyle, Niko Destefano, senior, Sprinter, and Brandon He, junior, Backstroke and Freestyle, all looking to push their own limits this season. Coach Besz said “Versatility of our swimmers to swim almost all the events and not stroke specific” is the foundation of this year’s team. The first meet of the season is December 9th home against Ridley High School. Other competitive home meets include the Upper Perk-Pottsgrove-Upper Merion Tri-meet on 6th of January and Senior Night against PJP II on the 29th of December.
The Vikings are all working together as a family and are motivated to improve both individually and as a team, pushing themselves to be better than the day before. The Vikings welcomed a few new faces to the roster, freshmen Kelsey Collins and Shannon He, are both looking to make an immediate impact on the team. They were welcomed into the family and are looking forward to swimming in the Freshman Relays. The Freshman Relay is a team tradition where the freshmen are given a time to beat. If all the freshmen beat it, the whole team gets to leave practice early. When asked about it, Destefano stated “It’s amazing to watch each of them break their limits and get some best times, while the entire team is cheering them on.” While the freshman relays are exciting, some of the Seniors have had some big news.
Hardel, who has been swimming as long as he remembers, recently committed to Iona University. Logan will be playing Division I Water Polo. Another recent commit, Destefano, who only started swimming his freshman year of high school. Niko will continue to swim at Division III Arcadia. Like Hardel, Brandon has been swimming since he was young, both of them starting with the Upper Merion Marlins program, a youth swim team. Logan, Brandon, and Niko have all said that the most challenging part of swimming is the mentality you need. Logan stated that the key part about the mentality needed is that “You need to think that you can do it before you actually can.”
The Vikings have set themselves goals and accomplishments this season. A personal goal for Logan, Niko, and Brandon is to send a 200 Yard Freestyle Relay team to districts and win the title. The team’s biggest goal is to improve upon last season, especially with the number of both boys and girls in comparison to previous seasons. The Vikings will host the PAC Championship meet in the Vikings Aquatic Center on February 6th. They look forward to bringing the energy to every meet and creating strong bonds that are unforgettable.
