By Kieran Raffert ’23

The Chaminade Swimming and Diving team had an excellent finish to the 2021-2022 season, culminating in an undefeated record—their first since 2007. In addition to the team’s overall success, 13 individual swimmers were able to qualify for the State Championships.

Mr. Andrew Salecker ‘12, Freshman and Varsity Swimming and Diving Assistant Coach, confirms that this year’s team was extremely well-balanced between each division. He explained, “There were so many contributors to the team this year. What’s most impressive, I think, is that we had athletes from all four divisions earning points for us at champs. You always expect the seniors to step up and deliver during their final year, but to have a number of fresh- men and sophomores also contributing and even earning spots in finals is really encouraging for the future of our program.”

The variety of talent between class divisions will prove to be an advantage for the Chaminade swimming and diving team in upcoming years. 

At the beginning of the season, the team had few doubts about losing because of their great performance in the 2020-2021 season. However, any team should be aware of the upcoming challenges they must face.

Salecker elaborated, saying, “Going into this season, we felt confident in our ability to defend our league. There’s a lot of depth on our team, which is especially important during Champs. Still, we knew that teams like Fordham Preparatory School and St. Anthony’s High School were going to challenge us, particularly in the dual meets.

In the end, we were able to secure an undefeated season, win all our dual meets, and place first at Champs. It was a great season for us.”

One of the defining qualities that Salecker noticed was the confidence of his swimmers. “These swimmers came into the season with the goal of winning a championship title,” Salecker stated. “Considering we compete in the most competitive league in the state, we all knew it wasn’t going to be easy. But our guys never let that confidence falter, even in close meets where it came down to the final relay. The faith these athletes had in themselves and in one another really made this special group.”

Among the Class of 2022, there were many seniors who helped to create this atmosphere of confidence and instill it in the minds of the swimmers.

The standouts from this senior class include the following students: Lucca Boutin, James Cash, Andrew Corso, Kieran Courtney, Jack D’Alessandro, Greg DeFranco, Eric DeStaebler, David Johnson, Arthur Kapinos, JP Maroney, and Sean Mazur.

There were many notable achievements that these seniors earned at both Champs and States: Lucca Boutin placed 3rd in the 200m Medley Relay, 5th in the 200m IM, 4th in the 100m Fly at Champs, and 17th in the 100m Fly at States. James Cash placed 8th in the 50m Freestyle, 7th in the 100m Freestyle, 1st at the 200m Freestyle Relay, 3rd in the 400m Freestyle Relay at Champs, and 2nd in the 200m Freestyle Relay at States. Jack D’Alessandro placed 5th in the 200m Freestyle, 4th in the 500m Freestyle at Champs, 27th in the 200m Freestyle, and 15th in the 500m Freestyle at States. Eric DeStaebler placed 7th in the 100m Fly at Champs and qualified for States. Arthur Kapinos placed 11th in the 50m Freestyle and 17th in the 100m Freestyle at Champs, and qualified for States. JP Maroney was also a States qualifier, and Sean Mazur placed 10th in the 100m Fly at Champs.

The Flyers still have much to look forward to in the next few years. Already thinking about next season, Salecker asserted, “We had two juniors break school records this year: Stephen McDonald ‘23 in the 500 Free and Lucas Silva ‘23 in the 100 Fly. They’ll be back next year, along with other impact swimmers from that class—Kieran Duffy ‘23, Danny Dwyer ‘23, and Brian Kern ‘23, just to name a few. We’re also looking forward to many of the current underclassmen stepping up in a big way next year—Sean Atkinson ‘24, Dylan Boutin ‘24, Frank Brozowski ‘24, Alex Schmitt ‘24, Joe Fitzgerald ‘25. It’s going to be an exciting season.”

Congratulations to the swimming and diving team for having its first first undefeated season in 15 years!