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North Haven Ready to Plunge into a New Type of Campaign

North Haven girls’ swimming and diving Head Coach Martha Phelan understands that things are going to be different if the 2020 fall season is played. However, in these uncertain times, one thing remains the same for Phelan: She is looking forward to helping her athletes perform their best in the pool.

North Haven is coming off of a historic campaign that saw the squad go 9-2, take third place at the SCC Championship, and then claim its first state title with a first-place finish at the Class M State Championship. It seems unlikely that North Haven will have an opportunity to defend its state title this year, though, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even if fall sports are played, the postseason will not be contested in its typical format and, since there would be an emphasis on meets between local teams so as to minimize travel, the chances of there being a State Championship are pretty slim.

Still, North Haven has been practicing as it prepares for its tentative season opener on Thursday, Oct. 1. While the team’s athletes feel a bit disappointed that they won’t get to defend their crown, Coach Phelan said that they are happy to be together and potentially compete this fall.

“We won’t have the season that we hoped for as far as defending our state title or having a dual-meet season like we did last year. It won’t be a season like we’ve ever had before, but I feel obligated to give these kids something as close to normal as possible and create a season where they can stay in shape, socialize, and have it be as close to the team experience as it possibly can,” Coach Phelan said. “There is no feeling sorry for ourselves. We will roll with whatever comes our way and try to do the best that we can.”

Phelan and her athletes have already talked about how the goal of claiming back-to-back state championships is presumably off the board. That may not be the ideal scenario, but Phelan said that everyone on her squad is keeping this setback in perspective and focusing on all the positive things they can achieve.

“These girls are very mature, and they’re so grateful that we had the season we did last year. If we can’t have a complete season this year, I feel like we’re OK with that,” said Phelan. “We are in the strangest of times. If [the pandemic] just happened right before the season, instead of in March, we would be devastated. But these kids have had a lot of eye-opening experiences about interacting with people and socializing, and I feel like that has taken the sting out of not being able to defend our title. I don’t think these girls are concerned about that. They just want to be together and see where that leads us.”

The regular season may also feature a different look this year. Instead of having two teams compete against each other simultaneously at the home squad’s pool, there is a chance that be virtual meets will held in 2020.

In one potential scenario, one team would compete in the swimming and diving events at the home site, after which the other team would do the same thing at the same place later that same day. Each team’s performances would then be compared to one another in order to score out the meet and determine the winner.

There is also a scenario in which each team would compete at its own pool, rather than have the road team travel. Either way, the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) is recommending that no spectators be allowed to attend these meets.

Coach Phelan is going to miss the excitement that comes with having two teams cheering on their peers from the pool deck, while their parents and friends make noise in the stands. That said, Phelan knows that having virtual meets is certainly better than no meets.

“We will all have to figure it out. It’s a better scenario than having nothing at all. We have to accept what is given to this team, deal with it, and do the best we can,” Phelan said. “Our goals are to try to do personal bests and, even if it’s a virtual meet, try to swim faster than the opposing team. It’s definitely harder when you don’t have someone next to you to get you to kick it into a higher gear, but I think that’s also a good lesson on how to internally motivate yourself.”

North Haven held its first practices of the year at Gawrych Town Pool last week. Instead of a typical 2 ½ hour practice each day, Coach Phelan is holding a pair of one-hour practices with two groups of athletes attending one session and two groups of athletes attending the other session. Two of the groups have eight swimmers, one group includes six swimmers, and one group features the three divers on the team. On Friday, Sept. 18, the CIAC plans to notify teams if they will be allowed to participate in full team practices starting on Monday, Sept. 21 based on the state’s COVID metrics.

Swimming is considered a low-risk sport in terms of COVID transmission, but of course, there are social-distancing protocols in place at these practices. Everyone has to wear a mask from the moment they step foot in the parking lot until they get into the water. They then have to put the mask back on as soon as they get out of the water. When the two groups are participating in a practice, they are doing so in opposite ends of the pool.

Although these are anything but your everyday practices, Coach Phelan said they are going well and that everybody is just happy to be there.

“It’s going without a hitch. It’s going so smoothly. It’s been a very positive experience. We have created a way for everyone to train that’s safe,” said Phelan. “The most important thing in all of this is mental health and physical health. Young people should be moving and interacting and, if this is one way that we can teach them to be in a positive frame of mind, then I am grateful that we are doing that. My goal is to get them in the best shape possible in the time that we are allotted.”

North Haven has three senior captains leading the charge as it strives toward its goals. North Haven’s captains are Maddie Bergin, Riley Jooss, and Alyssa Laborde. All three swimmers scored points that contributed to the team’s state title last year.

Bergin has won both the 50 freestyle and the 100 freestyle at the Class M State Championship in each of the last two seasons. She’s also won the 50 free at the SCC Championship the past two years and claimed first in the 100 free at SCCs three years in a row.

Bergin and Jooss were also two of the four athletes who swam on North Haven’s 200 freestyle relay that claimed first place at SCCs and states last year, setting a school record with their performance at the latter meet. While North Haven will be without All-State swimmer Angela Gambardella and All-State diver Ava Santacroce, who have both graduated, Coach Phelan said that the 2020 edition of her squad still has plenty of talent from top to bottom.

Aside from the three captains, North Haven’s roster features senior Molly Coyle, Ava Guidone, and Nicole Reynolds; junior divers Chandler Ceste-Martinez and El-Lana Coleman; fellow juniors Giulia Faulkner, Grace Finch, Olivia Grimm, Taya Laborde, Brooke Nebor, Abrielle Osborne, and Sarthi Shah; sophomores Makenzie Alogna, Victoria Pachnik, Mikayla Rapuano, Alice Scalmani, and Tara Stoeffler; as well as freshman diver Alexis Knapp and fellow freshmen Morgan Nunez, Madisen Karavas, Victoria DeMagistris, and Fiona Rosano.

Even though there are still plenty of things up in the air regarding fall sports, Coach Phelan said she appreciates the fact that her team has even made it to this point, especially since North Haven has its own eight-lane pool where it can practice. Phelan didn’t even think that there would be a fall season, but now there is a chance that it will take place, albeit in a different format.

No matter what happens in terms of any final decisions or details, Coach Phelan said that North Haven’s athletes are going to make the most of the time that they get to spend with each other.


“We’re all in this together. We’re doing it for the kids,” said Phelan. “We feel fortunate to have this opportunity. It’s a fluid situation that can change daily on a dime, but we’re ready to go, do as much as we can, and roll with what we have.”