LYNN — Swimming and diving season is just around the corner, and these Tigers aren’t afraid to get wet.
“We have a very big team,” said Lynn Tech coach John Hogan, who also coaches cross country and spring track. “So, it’s just about seeing improvement from the swimmers, being around .500, and winning a championship meet here and there.”
Hogan has led a successful program in recent years, one that has captured the Lynn City Meet multiple times.
“We have won the City Meet for a few years. We have won our girls’ and our boys’ league championships in the past,” he said. “We’re just looking to get as close to some of those goals as we can.”
And, of course, “it all starts with the swimmers,” according to Hogan. This winter, he had more than 90 kids sign up for tryouts.
“So far, we’ve had 66 come to the pool and that comes from my assistant coach Richard Bucko, who is a big part of the team, as well as our diving coach, Don McKenny, who is known for turning kids into state divers,” Hogan said.
There are several key contributors making their way back to the pool.
“For my team this year, we have a large group of underclassmen and we only have a few seniors. One of our senior leaders is Sabrina Hong, who is a captain and she is good at the distance events,” Hogan said. “Our other captains are Addisyn Brown, who is very good at diving and the 500, and Isabella Celona, who is returning as a state vocational champion in the 100 butterfly. She had a really good year last year and is a captain.
“Jazlene Ledesma is one of our lead backstrokers. We also have Alex Familia and Colin Newhall, who are going to be our sprinters this year along with Joey Klinker, who is returning after a year off,” Hogan said. “And our team MVP from last year as an eighth grader, Hunter Flores, so we have a strong group of returners and some new kids coming up.”
Wins and losses are great, but to Hogan, it’s all about culture.
“We just have to build on past years and past traditions with a lot of young kids that we will have for years to come,” he said. “We always try to have a good group of captains who are also leaders and teachers, so we have five captains and they help out with the kids. They earned being a captain… and then they just come back, teach, and help out the younger kids. It’s always the upperclassmen helping out underclassmen year after year that improves our team.”
Owen Finn is a student at Endicott College studying journalism
