By Alex Allyn ‘13
EE Staff Writer
The Trumbull High School Lady Eagles swimmers could not have been more eager to get back into the pool for the 2012-2013 season. They made it their mission to do even better than their already stellar top five in Connecticut placement.
However, construction at Hillcrest on the pool forced the team members to become orphans, without a pool to call their home. Now, swimmers are transported to the University of Bridgeport, while the divers, separated from their teammates, practice at Masuk High School.
This does not faze the Lady Eagles. They produced the best record in Trumbull High history, despite all of these hardships. These Overtime Team of the Week nominees did not let the lack of stability from losing a home pool allow them to lack focus on the season. The team ended up topping both of their FCIAC rivals, Staples and Norwalk.
In both meets, the score was tied before the final race, the 400 yard freestyle relay. It was up to the team of freshman Sarah Dwyer, junior Tara Merkle and junior Alexa Bragg, as well as senior captain Lisa Ward to pull through and secure the wins for Trumbull. This ended up being the case in both instances. However, the relays were not the end all of the season.
Divers, including senior Elyssa Britt and sophomore Tara Oliver, were essential to the Lady Eagles successful meets, winning points on the one-meter board. Even though teammates were separated at practices, they were still able to come together and succeed.
Captain Lisa Ward said, “There was so much energy because the score was tied for most of the meets. Our swimmers definitely rose to the occasion and there were a lot of amazing races.”
As captain, Lisa could not have been more proud to see her team rise up from adversity and overcome it. No home pool? No problem.
The Lady Eagles continued to thrive at the FCIAC Championships, where Alexa Bragg was FCIAC champion in the 100 Backstroke, and Lisa Ward became All-FCIAC in the 100 Butterfly and 200 Individual Medley. Other notable performances included sophomore Mollie Coleman, finishing seventh place in the 500 freestyle, and eleventh in the 200 freestyle. Such strong performances make it very clear very little can upset these ladies.
In the LL state championships, freshmen Sarah Dwyer, Amanda Daigle, Stephanie Chow hope to make an impact. Sophomores Mollie Coleman and Divya Ganugapati with juniors Tara Merkle and Alexa Bragg and senior Lisa Ward will continue to fight off competition. They will also continue to stay strong as they wait for the re-opening of their old home, the Hillcrest pool.
Update: As reported on http://www.fciac.net/, the swim team placed seventh in the Class LL championships, held at Wesleyan University on Nov. 14. Alexa Bragg, Lisa Ward, Mollie Coleman and Tara Merkle placed fourth in the 200 medley relay (1:52.08). In addition, Bragg placed fourth in the 100 backstroke (59.38) and Ward placed fourth in the 100 butterfly (58.69) and fifth in the 200 IM (2:12.38).