The Upper Dublin girls' swim team won its 25th consecutive conference title this season.
By Mary Jane Souder
1990
Home Alone was the top-grossing movie, “Hold On” by Wilson Phillips was the number one song on the charts, and the Upper Dublin girls’ swim team won its first of 25 consecutive conference championships.
“If I have the correct memory, it was Upper Moreland that kind of had the league around the neck at that point,” said Brian Palme, the Flying Cardinals long-time coach who was a freshman at Upper Dublin at the time.
These days it is the Flying Cardinals who have the ‘league around the neck.’ They captured their 25th consecutive crown earlier this winter when they won the SOL American Conference title.
“I think there’s an atmosphere of excellence,” senior Samantha Wheatley said. “The coaches throughout the season remind us of what our final goals are, and there are subtle hints every day about what we’re all working towards.
“I think every girl just knows what the final goal is, and everyone is working toward it together.”
Hard work and determination, according to Corey Johnson, are characteristics the Flying Cardinals share.
“We’re all working toward the same goal,” she said. “From the beginning of the season, we’re thinking about Suburbans.
“We knew what it would mean to win our 25th. That was in the back of our heads the entire year.”
“We have a lot of really good girls that are willing to work hard to accomplish the goals we set for ourselves at the beginning of the season,” senior Gina Casale said. “We always have a meeting at the beginning of the season, and we get asked what we want to accomplish.
“A lot of it is team unity and winning Suburbans at the end of the season. I think all of the girls are so focused on that goal that they just put all the effort in. We have an amazing group of girls. I’m so proud to be part of this, especially my senior year. I think it’s the coolest thing ever. I definitely think this willingness to work hard is what helps and drives us.”
The 25-year streak was not without its share of drama. There were some close calls along the way. None closer than the 2006-07 season that saw the Flying Cardinals fall to Springfield in the last meet of the regular season.
“It was Senior Night and all the hoopla that surrounded that,” Palme said. “Springfield had a super talented team, and they came into the old Upper Dublin pool and put a beating on us, which let them have an undefeated season and we were one win behind.”
As a result, the Flying Cardinals went into the SOL American Conference Championships needing to outscore the Spartans by 50 points if they entertained any hopes of keeping their string of championships alive.
“We had to have the meet of our lives because not even two weeks before they came in and put a whooping on us,” Palme said. “They still had the people who could do a lot of damage.
“We had to have a full team effort from top to bottom. Whatever it was – the team just pulled together and swam out of their minds. Eight new people made districts that day. It came down to the last relay. It was like a movie. That team really took it to heart that they had to step up and do something spectacular. Out of all the championships, that probably is the one I remember most.”
There were other seasons, according to Palme, where the Cardinals lost a meet, but so did their league opponents.
“We lost to Wissahickon two or three years in a row, but it played out that they lost to other teams, so it kind of neutralized that,” he said. “I think it’s the culture that the girls kind of create themselves going from season to season.
“From a coaching perspective, it’s always a goal. We never assume that it’s going to be handed to us. We always try and teach a culture of – respect your opponents and earn the victories in whatever way it’s set up to, but the girls themselves kind of embrace the idea it’s something this program hands down from generation to generation – you are to win the Suburban One title.
“That’s what they embody every day, so they come to work. Every time we swim a league opponent, we remind them – if you want to keep that legacy going, you have to do your work, respect your opponent and compete your hardest.”
This season, Pat Redikan took over the helm, and Palme stayed on as an assistant.
“What they were wearing on their back was not on my watch,” Redikan said. “The streak isn’t going to end on their watch. That was pressure for me. Taking over for Brian, it was like, ‘Oh God, we’re going for 25.’
“There’s no doubt I felt that. We talked about it a little bit at the beginning of the season. We look at where the competition is coming from, and we just set a target goal. What Brian has done is he talks about working the process. It’s always a process. We fine tune what we’re doing, and the times, the places will take care of themselves.”
The Cardinals suffered a setback even before the season began when one of their good swimmers opted to not swim this year.
“They were a little bit worried because the numbers were down, but they responded,” Redican said. “I’m thrilled for them.
“Obviously, someday it will end because somebody else just brought a better level to what we’re doing. Not because we faltered but because somebody else got better. If we do our best and can’t win, that’s acceptable.”
Until that time, the Cardinals will do everything they can to keep the winning tradition alive.
“They want us to succeed,” junior Casey O’Neill said. “They want us to get that next year under our belt and keep the tradition alive.
“There’s pressure, but everyone works so hard and puts in so much time that it’s an attainable goal each year. We all know what it means to work hard and where it will get us.”
In Upper Dublin’s gymnasium, two banners recap the 25 seasons of excellence – one banner would not be enough.
“I know freshman year I realized our senior year – if we keep this streak alive – it will be number 25, and I think that’s always been in the back of our minds,” Wheatley said. “Twenty-five is a big number.
“We thought about it – you don’t want to be the seniors that end the streak, but I don’t think it was anyone saying throughout the season, ‘Oh my god, can’t let that happen.’ We just knew what we needed to do. We’ve done it the last three years.
“It’s pretty impressive what we’re doing. I think it’s awesome. No other team at Upper Dublin has done anything close to that. It speaks to the power of the swim program.”
“It shows all the hard work and time we’ve put into the sport,” Johnson added. “We come in before the sun comes up, and we go home after it’s down.”
The Flying Cardinals are reaping the benefits of their hard work, and they admit this year’s title was special.
“Everyone was very motivated together,” Wheatley said. “At the (SOL championship) meet, I remember during the medley relay, I had never been so excited to see that relay win.
“It was a huge deal. We have all been together all season doing this. It’s 5:30 in the morning until 5:30 at night. I think our team was a lot closer this year than we have ever experienced. It’s a family.”
A family that has a legacy of excellence that has spanned 25 years.
“It’s a quarter of a century,” Casale said. “It’s crazy. The number of girls on the 25 teams – it’s insane.”
With more – the Flying Cardinals hope – still to be added in years to come.
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