Pirates Roll Toward Another Successful Season

Same old, same old. Warm up in the pool with a couple laps, walk out of the locker room in tight speedos and swim caps, huddle together for the pregame hype ritual, and finally dive right into the swim meet. This is the Pirates pregame ritual.

On Tuesday, January 14, the boys’ varsity swim team competed against Roosevelt Educational Campus at the Stuyvesant pool. However, it was hardly a competition. The Pirates sauntered in with a jubilant and relaxed mood, as illustrated by the fact that some of the swimmers were messing around during warm ups and experimenting with new events for fun. Despite this lack of seriousness, the Pirates practically lapped the opposing team in every event during the meet. Even before the first event started, the Roosevelt swimmers had faces of defeat. In the end, the Pirates rolled over the Bears in a 51-33 win, placing first in every category in the meet.

This win was a continuation of the Pirates’s continued dominance: they have now won all seven of their meets so far this season. This streak has been a general trend for the past three years, as they’ve won the last three PSAL championships in a row. The Pirates have not seen a serious opponent other than Bronx Science on January 2 where seniors Elias Ferguson, David Lupea, co-captain Kai Yamamoto, and sophomore Kai Mandelbaum qualified for the State Championship in the 200-yard medley relay. Mandelbaum also qualified for states in the individual 100-yard breastroke, with a time of one minute and 0.48 seconds. “That was our most challenging meet so far, but we won,'' senior and co-captain Sasha Camaev said.

Their achievements have come at a time of major internal changes. This year, the Pirates departed from their longtime head coach Silvana Choy and opted for Biology teacher Marianne Prabhu to replace her. Prabhu was a swimmer in high school and college, and with the help from the previous coaches, the transition has been smooth. “Coach Choy has been amazing. I’m always bouncing ideas off her. She even sends me friendly reminders about things I need to look out for,” Prabhu said. “There are just some things I don’t know, but I’m lucky that I have her and [Assistant Principal of Physical Education Peter] Bologna.”

“The team's spirit has been reignited now that we're almost into playoffs, so everyone has been working hard recently,” Camaev said. “Many people have set new best times and I’m confident in how the rest of the season will go. The swim team has been the most successful team at Stuyvesant and that’s for a reason: our interconnectedness and team mentality.” The only recent setback for the team has been a virus that has spread throughout the team, causing some of their swimmers to sit out. “We have to work around that by reshuffling our relays. But then again, since we have such a big team of great swimmers, it’s not that big of a problem,” Prabhu said.

Yamamato, who has placed first in every event he has participated in, qualified for the State Championship in the 200-yard medley relay and the 100-yard butterfly. Camaev has also had great performances across the board in freestyle events. Other notable swimmers include Lupea and freshman John Zhang in the backstroke.

As of now, the Pirates lead the Bronx/Manhattan 1 division with an undefeated record, followed closely by Bronx Science who lost to them on January 2. However, the Brooklyn Technical High School Engineers also lead their division with an undefeated record. Both teams have met each other in the finals for the past two years, with Stuyvesant coming out on top both times. “Our main rival Brooklyn Tech has of course been winning their meets. We'll see them at finals soon,” Camaev said.

Though every season is different from the ones before, the Pirates have consistently won, either due to the uncompetitiveness of their division or the resources that they have at hand compared to other teams. The Pirates are on a clear path to continuing this trend, and nothing seems to be in their way. It’s the same old, same old.