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03/09/2016 11:00 PMMost freshman swimmers are happy to just get their feet wet in their first year of high school, but JP Stoeffler has gone way beyond that and is making a big-time splash in his debut campaign with the Indians.
JP has competed for the Hamden-North Haven year-round program since 5th grade and so he brought a wealth of experience to the Indians this winter. JP says his goal was to simply do his best and last week he tested his mettle against the SCC’s best by swimming two events at the conference championship—finishing 15th in the 500 freestyle and 19th for the 200 freestyle.
Head Coach Martha Phelan says that JP’s performance this season has “surpassed my expectations” and she’s equally pleased with the demeanor the freshman brings to the pool.
“From January on, JP’s times have dropped remarkably and he’s swam some of the best times he’s ever done. What makes it even more enjoyable to watch is that he’s very humble and is the first kid with a high-five for every swimmer,” Phelan says. “JP embodies what you want on your team. He’s humble, has natural talent, a great work ethic, and is an all-around nice kid. I’m excited that we have him for three more years and I’m hopeful that he’ll get better as he matures, which I’m sure he will.”
JP feels grateful about how the advice and support of both Phelan and Rick Lucan—his coach with the Hamden-North Haven squad—have helped trim seconds off his times and says that his tenure with the latter program has had “a huge impact” on his high school success. JP won the 500 freestyle on multiple occasions during the dual-meet season and recently posted his lifetime-best mark of 5:12.42 when the Indians defeated Bunnell-Stratford on Senior Night.
“I was able to keep pace with the person next to me and it always helps when the person next to you is fast because it gives you a better chance at winning and swimming a good time. I lost by maybe three- to four-tenths of a second and wish that I could have beaten him, but was happy that I went a personal-best,” JP says. “When you do a lifetime-best, the hard work pays off because that’s what you’ve been working for at every practice. It feels good because you have your teammates cheering you on and your coach appreciates that you listened to them and worked so hard to do what you wanted to do.”
JP’s next high school meet was the SCC Trials on Feb. 29. He had already qualified for the championship in the 500 and so JP set his sights on doing so in the 200 freestyle, an event he finds more challenging in that it’s essentially an eight-lap sprint. JP doubled his fun at the trials by qualifying for SCCs in the 200, while recording his all-time top mark of 1:55. Two days later, JP competed at the SCC Championship, where he finished 15th in the 500 free with a time of 5:14.82 and took 19th for the 200 at 1:57.11. JP will do both events at the Class M State Trials at on Saturday, March 12 with an aim of making the finals that take place on Tuesday, March 15.
“I felt lucky [to compete at SCCs] because there aren’t a lot of people who get to do that and I was one of them,” says JP. “I’m a little anxious [about state trials]. I’m excited, but kind of nervous swimming against kids that really competitive and talented. But I think it helps when your teammates are there. It always helps when you have the support of your teammates at your side at a good competition that gets you nervous.”
JP’s personal progression this winter has coincided with team-wide improvement amongst the Indians, who performed their best down the stretch of the regular season en route to topping last year’s win total. JP says he’s having fun as a member of the Indians’ swimming family and feels that a promising future lies ahead for the program.
“I think that our team was successful overall. We were all consistent in every event and had a lot of personal-bests throughout the team. We did a lot better in the later part of the season and now people have to expect to help out with good results because they’ve competitively swam for the high school team,” JP says. “I’m glad to be on the team. We’re all still getting better and everyone is doing well. Everyone listens to Martha, watches how everyone improves, and sees how they improve themselves.”