Swim season officially started with the first meet of the season on Friday, December 5, 2025, against Delaware Valley (Del Val) High School. The boys’ team won 98-85, and the girls’ team lost 106-74.
The team captains for this year are Caitlin Hoffman, ‘26, Lucas Pelaez, ‘26, and Jason Pritchard, ‘26.
Even though the girls suffered a loss, Hoffman reflected, “The first against Del Val was successful and fun! We had lots of great swims and overall a fun time. Although we didn’t win, I have so much faith the team will make lots of progess and improvements and have a great and fun rest of the season.”
“That was probably one of the best first meets that I’ve had in my 15 seasons as a coach.
— William Conklyn, Swim Coach
.sno-pullquote-693719e67d095 { display: flex; float: right; margin: 30px 0 30px 30px; width: 50%; border-color: #870000; border-top-width: 5px; border-right-width: 5px; border-bottom-width: 5px; border-left-width: 5px; } .sno-pullquote-693719e67d095 p.pullquotetext, .sno-pullquote-693719e67d095 p.quotespeaker { } .sno-pullquote-693719e67d095 .pullquotepic { width: 33%; margin-left: 25px; } .sno-story-body .sno-pullquote-693719e67d095 p.pullquotetext { font-size: 22px; line-height: 1.4em; } .sno-pullquote-693719e67d095 .quotebar { background: #dddddd; flex: 0 0 90px; margin-top: -15px; margin-left: -15px; padding-left: 15px; padding-top: 15px; margin-right: 15px; } .sno-pullquote-693719e67d095 .largequote { color: #444444; } .sno-pullquote-693719e67d095 .quotebody { width: unset; }Coach William Conklyn later analyzed each swimmer’s times and found that 15 people had set new personal records for themselves – 23 people if he counted relay lead-off splits. He shared his delight, “To be able to open a season and have most of the swimmers pick up right where they left off last season is a great sign for things to come.”
The people who set new personal records are: Kacper Soja, Brett Svensson, Lila Smedly, Alfred Zheng, Ashlee Fehnel, Chudi Ogbolu, Aidan O’Toole, Jason Pritchard, Piper Coffman, Keshav Persaud, Vashaun Francis, Lucas Pelaez, Jessica Kelly, Matteo Maccarrone, and Jaydan Bondoc.
The Del Val boys’ team also received points for their diving skills, which prompted Coach Conklyn to comment, “For the boys to get the win against a team who had a 13-point advantage because of diving means we truly earned that win.”
The swimmers of the meet were announced after the meet, Smedly and Svensson, for their positive attitudes when competing and their hard work to achieve their PRs.
The team is optimistic about the upcoming season and is confident about their next meet away meet on December 9, 2025, against Liberty High School.
Coach William Conklyn keeping track of swimmers’ times and events while keeping spirits high. (Lile Bekaia)