SOL Boys/Girls Swimming Notebook (12-14-16)

Swimmers from William Tennent, CB East and Upper Dublin are featured in the season’s first notebook.

National Conference

Tricia McCoy, William Tennent
Tricia McCoy has seen a lot of changes in her three seasons as a swimmer and diver at William Tennent.
Longtime swim coach Lisa Forlini passed away in November of 2015, right before the season started. She was also the diving coach, and former Tennent standout Bobby Larew stepped in to fill the diving gap for the season.
Larew’s commitment as a youth pastor did not allow him to continue this season so another former Tennent diver, Hugh Breen, is guiding the program this year.
“Most kids are diving with the same coach since they were five and we’ve had three different coaches in three years,” said McCoy, a senior. “They were all completely different so they teach completely differently so we had to learn completely different ways of doing things. That’s hard but it’s also nice to get those different perspectives. I’ve gotten better since my sophomore year and I think that’s part of it.
“I think of myself more as a swimmer although I do like to dive. This year I’m focusing on the 50 and 100 freestyle and maybe the fly in the medley relay.”
She is also the goaltender for the field hockey team, which indirectly led to her swimming and diving career.
“Kendall Brasch (a former teammate) was on the field hockey team and she swam,” McCoy said. “I had done winter track my freshman year and Kendall encouraged me to go out for swimming. I didn’t like running much so I tried it.
“I found out that swimming is harder than running but I liked it.”
In the spring, she is a thrower on the track team, mostly the javelin, and her twin brother Dave is on Tennent’s wrestling team.

Continental Conference

Erik Huuki, Central Bucks East
Erik Huuki has always been into sports.
“Swimming was one of the first sports I tried,” said Huuki, a sophomore. “I started out at the Y and Fanny (Chapman) when I was about six. I played baseball too but when I was around 10 I decided that I liked swimming and I went with that.”
Last year was his first year on CB East, but he had plenty of competitive experience before that.
“I’ve been on the CBST (Central Bucks Swim Team) for awhile so I was very familiar with competitive swimming,” he said.
He’d also been to meets as a spectator, watching older sister Louise swim for the Patriots. She is on the CB East record board as a member of the 400-yard freestyle relay.
“Last year was a lot of fun,” he said. “I got a varsity letter and that was awesome. I didn’t quite get to districts but that’s a goal for me this year.
“I was close in the backstroke last year, and looking back at last year I think I improved and a grew a little but too so that really helps.”
The Patriots kicked off the season by hosting a relay carnival.
“I dropped a ton of time in the 200 even though relay starts don’t really count,” he said. “Also we had a scrimmage and I went 2:07 in the individual medley and that’s pretty close to the automatic time. Even though that’s not my main event it’s nice to have a time like that this early in the year.”
He would like to swim in college and is considering a major in engineering or research.
“I really like science and math,” he said. “Those subjects come really easy to me.”

American Conference

Alex Flynn, Upper Dublin
Alex Flynn is excited about his Upper Dublin team.
“There’s a lot of talent here,” said Flynn, a junior. “We have an incoming freshman class that’s almost as big as our senior class. It’s a very large class and really talented.
“Matthew Jensen, who is (former standout) Michael Jensen’s brother, Jake DiMartile, he’s a great kid, Andrew Marcus, Jarred Kressman, Kyle Pro – they are all great kids, and we have a bunch of others who definitely have a chance to do great things over the next few years for us.”
Upper Dublin had an outstanding showing at last year’s PIAA Class AAA championships.
“The challenge for us is to step up and show what we can do, especially after last year’s seniors set the bar so high,” he said. “We have to follow their lead.”
The Cardinals have a new rival in the SOL American this year as Hatboro-Horsham moves over from the Continental.
“We have some friends there,” Flynn said. “Andy Thomas swims there and he’s a great kid and good competition. It’s a good rivalry with them and I’m looking forward to seeing what happens.”
In addition to swimming, Flynn is a member of the German Club at Upper Dublin.
“I really enjoy that,” he said. “Over the summer we were part of an exchange program and we went to Germany for about three weeks. It was a great experience.”
He would like to swim in college.
“I’ve been talking to Penn State recently and also my brother’s college Rider,” he said. “I haven’t chosen a major yet but I’m thinking business or science. I’m interested in both of those.”
Older brother Ian, who swam for the Cardinals, is now a senior on the team at Rider University and majoring in geosciences/marine science.