The Bridgewater-Raritan High School girls’ swim team finished a grueling dual meet season, ultimately losing in the state sectional championship meet against Ridge High School.
Despite the 99-71 loss in the North Jersey, Section 2, Public A state sectional final, the Bridgewater-Raritan swimmers, who were ranked No. 7 in the state at that time, were still excited going into the meet to race against top-ranked Ridge after an impressive upset against sixth-ranked Westfield High School, 91-79, in the state sectional semifinals.
Ridge eventually went on to win the overall Public A state championship and finished the year as the No. 1 ranked team in New Jersey.
After reflecting upon the season, the Bridgewater-Raritan captains reflected on the highlights.
Senior Lila Blomquist shared that the highlight of her season was winning the dual meet against Pingry School. This victory was special because the team went in expecting to lose and just have fun, but found out going into the last relay that there was a chance to win, she said. Bridgewater-Raritan ended up placing second and third in that relay, which was necessary to win.
Blomquist explained her experience watching the last relay.
“The energy on deck was insane. It brought us closer as a team and gave us the confidence boost we needed going into our state meets,” she said.
For senior Dora Dvorkin, the highlight of the season was the last meet against powerful Ridge. The team lost against Ridge earlier in the season, so going into the meet the team had expected to lose by quite a bit. As the meet progressed, it was evident that everyone was swimming their best and the energy on deck was exceptional.
Dvorkin shared her experience swimming at the meet.
“Going into my 100 breast, I told myself that I would just be having fun, but as I raced, I ended up out-touching the girl next to me and the reaction of excitement from the team was something that I would never experience again and it truly showed me the extent of love I have for the girls of BR Swim,” she said.
Senior Alex Enriquez described the last relay at the state meet against Westfield.
“The whole meet was close and had been super intense with high energy throughout the deck. Going into the last relay, we had to get first or second and third, but we weren’t expecting to get first, so our best bet was to try and get second and third,” she said. “To our surprise, we ended up getting first and seeing everyone’s excitement as we made it to the next round of the state tournament was surreal and something I will never forget.”
For senior All-America Erica Maltsev, the highlight of the season was the tradition of the team dying their hair.
“Since I missed hair dye last year and have only been on the team for two years, this was my first year experiencing it. I could never replace the bond I felt with the other girls while expressing our love and passion for BR Swim through dying our hair. That night brought us closer than any meet could have and made me even prouder to be a part of this team,” she said.
Similar to the others, senior Katie Pestrichelli shared her highlight being the last relay against Watchung Hills.
“We knew going into the meet it was going to be a close one and we were essentially tied the whole meet,” she said. “Going into the last relay, we needed first place to win in an event we were expected to lose. Hearing everyone on deck cheering and supporting each other was something I will never forget. Seeing the entire place erupt while watching our relay out-touch theirs made me so proud of my teammates and proud to be a part of this team.”
Bridgewater-Raritan ended the dual season with a 10-3 record.
