Going with a Youth Motion by Necessity, PHS Boys’ Swimmers Gaining Precious Expertise – City Matters

BAY AREA: Princeton High boys’ swimmer Stephen Baytin shows his freestyle kind in a meet earlier this season. Freshman Baytin has made a direct influence as PHS has gotten off to a 3-1 begin. In upcoming motion, the Tigers host Hopewell Valley on January 6 and Bridgewater-Raritan on January 8. (Photo by Frank Jacobs III)

By Bill Alden

Pat Remboski knew that his Princeton High boys’ swim group was dealing with a problem when its hosted rival WW/P-South in its final meet earlier than the vacation break.

“Before the meet we had a conversation,” mentioned PHS head coach Remboski. “We knew going in it was going to be a tough meet, so we put our best lineup out there and we did our best.”

Although the Tigers fell 113-57 within the December 16 meet, Remboski believes his swimmers took so much from the matchup.

“Regardless of the result, it was a great experience for all our swimmers,” mentioned Remboski, whose boys’ squad moved to 3-1 with the defeat. “The boys’ team is so young. We lost a lot of talent from last year.”

Freshman standout Baytin, the youthful brother of former Tiger star Daniel ’23, supplied highlights within the meet towards South for the PHS, successful the 500-yard freestyle and taking second place within the 200 particular person medley.

“Stephen is very similar to Daniel, they are just really funny guys,” mentioned Remboski. “Stephen is a competitor as well; he loves to win. He gives it his all. He is another guy who is like a Swiss Army knife. He is doing a great job. I remember seeing him in sixth grade and he was this little boy. Now he comes on the pool deck, and he is 6’2.”

Another key freshman, Natan Wysocki, has made an important influence for the Tigers.

“He is a quiet kid on the pool deck but talk about a competitor,” mentioned Remboski of Wysocki, who took third within the 500 free towards South. “He speaks with his swimming, and he leads with that. I am excited for the career that he will have.”

The squad’s corps of promising newcomers additionally consists of Sebastian Rodricks and Jayden Zhang.

“Sebastian is a full-time rower, so he is balancing crew and swimming,” mentioned Remboski. “Jayden is a positive as well. He always has a smile on his face; he is always happy to swim.”

A pair of sophomores, Eito Sakaguchi and Gabriel Colon, have emerged as large positives this winter.

“Eito actually transferred here, he is very solid,” mentioned Remboski, noting that that Sakaguchi is from Japan. “He is incredible, he is another guy who is very quiet on the pool deck. He works his butt off every practice, he is just working and working. Gabriel has been contributing. He is also another full-time crew guy and he has been balancing the two.”

Juniors Michael Chorba and John Staples are offering a robust work ethic and veteran management.

“Our junior class is really strong, Michael and John are both captains this year,” mentioned Remboski. “It is the same thing with both of them, they work hard.”

While PHS solely has 4 seniors on the squad, Shawn Elwood and Rex Zhang are making their presence felt.

“Shawn is one of our captains as well as Rex,” mentioned Remboski. “Shawn has made a big jump from junior to senior year; we are totally blown away by him. He has figured it out. He is in the gym, he is running, and he is swimming every day.”

With PHS beginning January by internet hosting Hopewell Valley on January 6 and Bridgewater-Raritan on January 8, Remboski believes his younger squad could make an enormous leap because it goes by means of the winter.

“If we can learn one thing from every meet about the players, about themselves, about the team, we are going to be in a better place coming into January,” mentioned Remboski. “Bridgewater is No. 1 in the state on the boys’ side, and we are really excited to face them. That is one we can really learn from.”