The Marblehead swim team has enjoyed waves of recent success.
The co-op Magicians are a perfect 7-0 this season, but head coach Susan Guertin admitted she was a bit nervous of how the team would perform after losing 16 seniors.
“I was a little bit afraid with losing some of the seniors from last year, that it might not be as easy to field a whole team that was as good as last year,” she said. “But they all stepped up and we had a really good season.”
Despite the nerves, when asked what the expectation was entering the season, Guertin was quick to respond with “win the conference.”
“You never know what other teams are adding to their roster. We lost two top boys from last year, but I knew we had strong underclassmen in both girls and boys,” Guertin said. “We lost 16 seniors from last year, which is a big chunk of the team.”
Guertin praised some of her swimmers for helping the program stay competitive.
“Nate Rosen and Logan Doody have swam well this year,” Guertin said. “Nate is still trying to make the cut for states – he’s about one second off. Logan is a sprinter in the 50 and 100 free and he’ll go to states in both of those events.”
“Sophomore Cale Nelson is very strong. He should place well in sectionals and states. He’ll swim the 500 and 200 IM,” Guertin said. “Brady Leveroni has qualified in the 100 fly, and Ian Chemel has made states in the 100 backstroke. The boys have stepped up well.”
On the girls side, she’s fortunate enough to have state champion Bella Takata back on the team.
“Bella Takata, who was a part of the state championship team, qualified for sectionals, but we’re not sure what she’ll swim yet since she’s qualified in numerous events,” Guertin said. “Song Waitekus has qualified in the 200 IM, 100 fly, 100 breaststroke, and 500… Finn Bergquist, Rebecca Vaynshteyn, and Brinleigh Callahan have also qualified and have had strong seasons for us.”
When asked to name her favorite moment of the season, Guertin pointed to the boys qualifying for states in three different relay categories.
“My favorite moment so far has probably been making the cut for all three relays for the state championship,” Guertin said. “That was a goal of theirs at the start of the season – the medley, 200 free, and 400 free. I think that’s pretty awesome for them to achieve their goal.”
The swim season is always the busiest for Guertin, who also works at the YMCA. Despite all the work that goes into the season, the Magicians have rewarded their coach with a 7-0 record.
“I always get very nervous. There’s a lot of work that goes into a swim meet and in the postseason trying to figure out what the kids will swim,” Guertin said. “Between juggling high school, the Y swim team, and teaching classes at the Y, it’s a very busy time of year.”
