RBC girls looking to remain the Shore's best
While Casey boys point to building the program
BY VIN RAPOLLA
Staff Writer

Both the girls and boys swim teams from Red Bank Catholic made strong impressions on their coach, Matt Bowen, this past Saturday against Shore Conference opponent Neptune.

With the girls, an impressive showing comes as no surprise - after all, the Caseys do enter the season as the second-ranked team in the Shore. But for the boys, the fast start is an encouraging sign for Bowen, who would love to see the gap between the two teams shrink this season.

"For the girls, for the first meet the team came together and was cohesive, they got the job done. Everybody really came through," said Bowen, now in his second season at the helm. "For the boys to step up in their first meet really impressed me."

Both RBC teams will be looking to continue to impress their coach, and others, as this winter season progresses. The RBC girls have the added burden of high expectations to deal with, coming off a 10-1 regular-season performance that included both Shore Conference and Monmouth County championships, as well as a trip to the second round of the state tournament, where they were knocked off by Immaculate Heart.

This year's team should be a powerhouse once again, as the Caseys have lost just eight swimmers from last year's team, and returns all of its major contributors.

Among the top performers from last year who return for RBC this winter are seniors Aubrey Cefalo, Becky Schwartz, Christina DiMaria, Lauren Mirynowski and Stephanie Hellman.

RBC also features several impressive newcomers who will quickly emerge as forces in the sport over the next four years.

"On a team like this we have a tremendous amount of depth, so we look for all of our lanes to score points," They are all working hard and are dropping times," said Bowen. The Caseys will be led by seniors Jared Grossman and Bobby Pignataro, but will need strong efforts from all of its swimmers if they hope to make progress this winter. In a sport like swimming, having a small roster certainly puts a team at a disadvantage. With 11 events and three relay events per meet, several swimmers are called upon to produce in each and every event.