The KHS girls swim team has had a remarkable 2023-2024 school year season, almost undefeated, and therefore, one of the best seasons the team has had in years. With a score of 12-1, the girls’ swim team has dominated this year. 

As the season progressed, they stayed consistent with their success as they moved up the leagues. According to Statista, the amount of girls participating in high school swim has gone up to 173,088 as of 2019 and is continuing to grow. The Kinnelon team, which consists of a 21-person roster, have all worked together to win their meets, as the team has grown since its very beginning.

“Being a part of the team is great, everyone is so welcoming and us having a good season just adds to the spirit!” says sophomore Samantha Ferretti. Ferretti has been on the swim team since last year and has shown significant support for her team. “These girls work so hard every day and it really shows,” she says.

Ferretti also details how head coach Brian Boardman, has guided the team. “I’ve trained well in practice because Coach Boardman keeps us well-trained and gives us good breaks. He knows how to make sure we stay our best throughout the season.” 

Freshman Ridhima Chauhan shares how she has trained for the season as well. “Outside of practice, I swim for fun. In practice, our warmups are pretty consistent, and a lot of it is freestyle. Today I have practice, tomorrow I have practice, so yeah, we practice pretty consistently!” 

The training seems to have paid off. The girls had their first meet on Dec. 15, at Montville. This kickstarted the season with their first win, with a score of 111-59. Kinnelon placed first in all events, creating a significant gap between them and their opponents. With this first victory, the competence of the team solidified. Following this, there have been 12 more meets, most of them ending with a Kinnelon victory. For most meets this season, the Kinnelon girls won by a significant margin, and have only lost one.

Following their initial streak of wins, the girls made it to the NJSIAA Tournament Semifinal Rounds. They competed in the North 1, Group C Semifinal Round against Indian Hills at the Lakeland Hills YMCA. The Round ended with the girls winning again, the score being 104-66. This brought them to the Final Round against Mountain Lakes. Winning again, with a score of 106-64, they progressed even further to another Semifinal Round, this time against Livingston, in which they won yet again, by a score of 108-62. Finally, the girls made it to their very final meet, the NJSIAA Swimming State Team Championships Swim Meet, at Rutgers University, against Haddonfield. Unfortunately, this final meet resulted in the only loss, with a score of 90-80. Despite their final loss, the girls are still proud of what they have accomplished, as it was no easy feat. 

Senior leader Grace Bohan reflects positively on the season and her personal journey as a swimmer on the thriving swim team. “I did better than I was expecting, and I started swimming what used to be my worst stroke a lot more. I improved more than I thought I would given I don’t do club swim team anymore. I’m really proud of myself and for all the other girls on this team for dropping time and swimming hard.” Along with being proud of her teammates, Bohan has also bonded with them. “We did a lot of team bonding events like getting brunch and having a pasta party. Even just singing together on the bus rides was a blast and brought us closer as a team.” 

Ferretti highlights the closeness of the team as well. “I feel like the bond between everyone has gotten stronger. We’ve had multiple team bonding activities, ranging from a pasta party, white elephant, and other outings.” 

Along with team bonding activities, the team has also shared moments at meets that have brought them closer together. “I think the best moment was when we won sectional semifinals, the first really big meet, and when we won, it was really, really awesome!” Chauhan remembers. “I was like ‘Oh my god, the other team is really fast’ and I was looking at the scoreboard, and then all of sudden they announced that we won! We got a trophy, and we all hugged in a circle, and started jumping up and down and screaming! Our captain especially, she was so excited! We stopped, and then we started screaming again, and then we stopped and started screaming again! It was overall a really great meet!” 

With all the highs and lows of the season, the girls’ excitement makes sense. Overall, all teammates can agree they don’t regret being a part of the team.