The 2013/2014 swim season had a tremendous start for the Prep Swim Team.  This year’s team was benefitted with the strongest group of swimmers the program had ever seen.  This year Prep started the season unranked, but that quickly changed as its first meet was against the then No. 17 ranked Scotch Plains High school.  Prep made a big splash in the rankings by beating the ranked Scotch Plains High.  Saint Peter’s continued its winning streak for several weeks dominating teams both in and out of Hudson County.  While this year’s record was 13 wins with only one loss during the regular season, Prep had a perfect record in the county.  There were a number of victories over state ranked teams including The Pingry School, Ridgewood High school, Scotch Plains, and Seton Hall Prep.  While Prep suffered a close loss to Seton Hall Prep in the State tournament, they ended the season on a high note by winning both the Hudson County and League title at the end of the season.  The team also sent swimmers to the Meet of Champions, who were able to place on the podium among some of the state’s top swimmers.  This year’s varsity roster had seven seniors: Brian Tuhy, Matthew Jasko, Matt Chu, Matt Giardello, Thomas Calloni, John Corea, and Ryan Diaz.  The team’s biggest class, juniors, included: Peter Tomlijanovic, Anthony Ruvo, Reese Quinones, Ed Oser, Matt Frezza, Jonathan Juan, Chris Capparis, Michael Dwyer, Winston Chu, Sebastian Jaliff, Sean Severson, and Michael Capparis.  There were seven members of the sophomore class: Griffin Whitmer, Sean Regan, Mark Imus, Nick Giardello, Mike Dillane, Matt Hart, and Will Delaney.  Last but not least, the freshman class had six members: Stuart Callinan, Sean Mikovits, Grant Thieroff, Zach Birdsall, Johannes Calloni, and Youssef Elshenawy.  “I think the greatest change has been watching the attitudes of my teammates change as they get older and faster” said Captain Matt Giardello when asked how the team has improved since his freshman year.  He also commented on the members of the team as well: “As freshman, most kids, myself included, were very shy.  As time progressed and we started qualifying for National Catholics, Meet Of Champions and making moves in the state playoffs, I could see how my teammates became more serious about the sport, and how they were able to become closer as a team.”  A big part of this year’s strong team was Prep’s depth: “Our strength comes from our depth.  Each individual is an integral part to the team: every lane in every race counts.  Because of this, I expected to be able to match teams that we previously have not been able to match like Seton Hall or Pingry, but we did.”  The team hopes to be as competitive next season and hopefully capture a state championship.