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01/03/2022 11:00 PMAfter longtime head coach Martha Phelan stepped down after last season, Mike O'Brien was appointed as the new head coach of the Greater New Haven boys' swimming and diving team. The Warriors got O'Brien's tenure started off on the right foot, winning their first meet of the year against the Milford co-op.
"The start of the season is always exciting," O'Brien said. "The first few weeks preparing for swim meets, especially not knowing the guys personally, we're trying to develop relationships and learn all their specialities. It has been fun trying to get to know them."
The Greater New Haven Warriors boys' team swim is a co-op that features athletes from East Haven, Guilford, North Branford and North Haven. While this year's team has to adapt to having teammates from different schools, O'Brien said that many of the swimmers already had experience competing with their Warriors' teammates.
"A majority of them swam on a club team together at some point," O'Brien said. "About 70 percent of them have swam with each other."
On Dec. 20, Greater New Haven started off their season with an away meet at Foran High School against the Milford co-op, which features athletes from Foran and Jonathan Law. The Warriors would come away with a 88-79 win.
Senior captain Hethon Foster, who is from East Haven, won the 200 yard individual medley (2:05.87) and the 100 butterfly (54.94) Fellow senior captain Finn Henry, from Guilford won the 50 freestyle (22.69) and the 500 freestyle (4:51.75). North Branford's junior Spencer Carroll won the 100 breaststroke (1:13.38) while Guilford's junior Aiden Cohen won the 100 freestyle (51.76). North Haven junior Christian Butler took first in the one-meter diving (231 points), while freshman Hugh Henry won the 200 freestyle (2:00.88). Sophomore Victor Zito is another North Haven resident on the squad.
The Warriors' team of Foster, Finn Henry, Carroll and sophomore William Cong, from Guilford, won the 200 yard medley relay (1:47.35) in the meet versus the Milford co-op. The team of Henry, Carroll, Cong and Guilford junior Joey Gould took first in the 200 freestyle relay (1:40.70). Greater New Haven's team of Foster, Hugh Henry, Cohen and Guilford sophomore Sam Mayo ended the meet by winning the 400 freestyle relay (3:37.14).
Coach O'Brien said he was impressed with how far the Warriors had come from day one to their first regular season meet. Furthermore, he said he was impressed with how this year's team was able to adapt after numerous swimmers were asked to swim in events they may not have had much experience with.
"Starting off the season with a win is always great. You want to stay positive, stay focused from the beginning. I wanted to put them all into different events," O'Brien said. "I wanted to spread everyone out, see how the races would go and see how we match up. I didn't expect the improvements we actually had from day one to our first meet. It was great to see."
This year, the Warriors' senior captains are Foster, Henry, and Pavlo Melnyk from East Haven. Brendan Conners, a junior, is also an East Haven student on the team. While O'Brien said that Melnyk is currently swimming numerous events, he expects Foster to primarily compete in the 50 yard freestyle and 100 butterfly while Henry competes in the 200 and 300 freestyle.
All three captains were elected before O'Brien became the head coach of Greater New Haven. However, with athletes from four different schools on the team, he said that all three have done a great job of keeping the team together and building chemistry early in the season.
"So far they have done a great job keeping the team together and pushing camaraderie," O'Brien said. "They've been pretty great as far as leaders go."
O'Brien said he has also been impressed with the work of numerous other swimmers early on, including Gould, Cong, Carroll, Mayo, junior RT Trotter, sophomore Daniel Villabona and freshman Robert O'Connor. Overall, O'Brien said he has been impressed with everyone on the Warriors' work ethic and how much they have improved in such a short amount of time.
When O'Brien became head coach, he said he wanted the Warriors to compete for the Southern Connecticut Conference and State Tournament crowns. However, for now, he is looking for Greater New Haven to continue adapting to different events and realize that the team comes before any individual performances.
"I want them to learn the value of being on a team. I've been on teams before where swimmers only want to swim their events. I want them to be able to swim in other events," O'Brien said. "I want them to recognize that they might not swim the same event every meet, but that they're doing it for the betterment of the team. I want them to be there for them and be there for each other."
The Greater New Haven Warriors' boys swimming and diving team's roster features senior captains Hethon Foster, Finn Henry, and Pavlo Melnyk; juniors Christian Butler, Spencer Carroll, Aiden Cohen, Brendan Conners, Lucas Espinosa, Alley Farrell, Joey Gould, Natalya Guerrero, Dylan Sobolewski, and RT Trotter; sophomores Carter Bryan, William Cong, Seth Gyllensten, Alex Hansen, Sam Mayo, Coleman Tandler, Daniel Villabona, and Victor Zito; as well as freshmen Aeden Conners, Johnson Dang, Hugh Henry, Kyle Januszewski, Devin Lu, James Midgley, Robert O'Connor, and David Oleksyuk.