“It was a small group overall but they were so mighty.” “That was such a good group,” said Schwimmer.

The team’s 8U boys crew featured other standouts, including Thomas Loper, the winner of the 25 backstroke, Kian Martin, the first place finisher in the 25 breaststroke, and Lucas Julian, who won the 25 freestyle. “He was always cracking jokes, having fun. “Rei-Jhe worked so hard, he is the team jokester,” said Schwimmer. He took first in the 25-yard butterfly and the 100 individual medley. One of the top swimmers for the team was Rei-Jhe Lee, the PASDA championship meet MVP in the 8-and-under boys division. We just have to be organized and stay on top of that for sure.” With so many coaches and a great facility to make it work, I definitely do not feel that the quality of the program has changed at all with our numbers. Essentially each group is able to operate and maintain pretty good numbers in their lanes and is able to work individually. Including the diving well, we are using over 20 lanes for practices. “We are able to see progress because we have such a great facility that helps out,” said Uchrin, noting that the staff included nine assistant coaches. It worked out great as I knew it would.”ĭespite dealing with so many swimmers, Uchrin and Schwimmer made sure that each athlete got individual attention. I took the lead a little more to focus on the 11-and-overs and Kelsey a little more on the 10-and-unders. Kelsey has been such a huge part of our team for so long. I mentored her along the way so it has been a lot of fun. “I started off as her coach and then brought her on to coach with us. “I have known Kelsey since my very first club practice here, I am really proud of her,” said Uchrin. Uchrin credited Schwimmer with playing a key role in getting the most out of that depth. It also shows that they want to be there.” We had so many kids per group we had 40 kids in the 10-and-under. “We have our MVPs and our kids who we knew would come in where they would but the amount of depth we had down the line in each group was really spectacular. “I know that every group saw significant improvement, every coach would say that each kid dropped time,” said Schwimmer, who joined the Bluefish in 2012 and also competed for the PHS swim team and is now a kindergarten teacher in Dunellen. It has happened organically that we have been on this win streak.”Ĭo-head coach Schwimmer, a former Bluefish team member and 2014 Princeton High alumna, saw the fun atmosphere around the team fueling progress in the water. Ultimately you get a situation where you get a lot of kids wanting to participate, having a good time and then the results are going to speak for themselves. “Summer league is not so much about that. “It is not about the wins and losses, it is about the fun,” said Uchrin, noting that Friday practices are devoted to playing sharks and minnows and water polo rather than grinding out laps. While proud of the team’s achievements, Uchrin is more focused on making sure that the swimmers have a great time. It wasn’t just our collective performance but we had a lot of great individual performances.” “We had multiple PASDA league records that we set. “It is the most points we have ever had at the championships, we had the most PASDA MVPs (six) we have ever had,” said Uchrin, whose team has been undefeated since 2015 and hosted the PASDA championship meet. It worked out great.”įeaturing such depth, the Bluefish went 5-0 in dual meet competition in Princeton Area Swimming and Diving Association (PASDA) Division 1 action and then dominated the PASDA championship meet in late July, taking first in Division 1 with 4,441 points, well ahead of runner-up Hopewell Valley, which had 1,999.

A lot of families in the post-COVID times wanted to get their kids back into the water and back into a sport where they will have fun. As the year went along, I was talking to Kelsey (co-head coach Kelsey Schwimmer), saying these are really big numbers. We weren’t really sure what to expect this year.

“This is our first year back to normal season, 2021 was a transition.

“That is the most we have ever had, it blew away the most we had before,” said Bluefish co-head coach Mike Uchrin. It was a record-breaking summer on many levels for the Community Park Bluefish swimming team.įirst, the venerable program, which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year, drew 280 swimmers and 60 divers for its 2022 campaign. Dubow was named the 18-and-under girls MVP at the PASDA meet, taking first in both the 50-yard breaststroke and 100 individual medley. Dubow helped the Bluefish take first in Division 1 at the Princeton Area Swimming and Diving Association (PASDA) championship meet in late July. PIPING UP: Community Park Bluefish swimmer Piper Dubow displays her butterfly form in a meet this summer.

Record bluefish