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11/30/2016 11:00 PMAfter swimming at the town pool for the past few years, Jennyfer Jarrin decided to join the East Haven-Wilbur Cross girls’ swim team as a junior this fall. Jennyfer feels that what she learned while swimming on a recreational basis helped her when it came time to step into the competitive arena.
“This year was my first year I swam for the high school. I thought since I knew how to swim, why not join the swim team? Swimming at East Haven High School was my first time swimming competitively,” Jennyfer says. “I practiced all the strokes involved with swimming for five years at the East Haven town pool. It made it a lot easier and I wasn’t nervous because I knew what I was doing.”
Not only did Jennyfer enter the Yellowjackets’ swimming program with an understanding of all the strokes, but her teammates gave her a warm welcome and made Jennyfer feel like she’d made the right call to join the team.
“They were very welcoming. As we got more girls from East Haven High School and got some girls from Wilbur Cross, it definitely made it more enjoyable,” says Jennyfer. “I’ll forever be grateful that I made friends because of this sport.”
Yellowjackets’ Head Coach Dave Oshana says that Jennyfer was a valued member of his team who displayed a great work ethic throughout the recent season.
“Jennyfer was a wonderful addition to our team this fall. She comes to the team with experience as she swam for years with the East Haven recreation team,” says Oshana. “Jennyfer also has such a great positive attitude. She always has a smile on her face and worked very hard in practice to improve her times this season.”
Jennyfer notes how much she worked in practice to drop seconds off her times as the campaign progressed.
“Practices were fun because I got to see how much I improved every day,” says Jennyfer. “I also got to fix all my flaws and get better.”
Jennyfer competed in the 200 individual medley and the 100 butterfly, as well as the 200 and 400 freestyle relays for East Haven-Cross this season. Even though she didn’t swim the breaststroke, Jennyfer says that event is actually her favorite.
“My favorite is the breaststroke, but I’m better at freestyle,” says Jennyfer. “It doesn’t get me as tired as the other strokes and I’m pretty quick at the freestyle.”
Coach Oshana points out how well Jennyfer did in the sprint freestyle events this season.
“She is strong and really excels in the shorter 50- and 100-yard events. She is one of the team’s fastest sprinters,” he says. “She had a terrific first season on the team and I am looking forward to seeing what she can do next year.”
Jennyfer went to both the SCC Championship and the Class LL State Championship as a member of her relay teams this season. The best performance came from the 400 at the Class LL meet, where Jennyfer and her teammates posted a time of 4:06.46.
“It was very nerve-wracking as it wasn’t something I normally do, so I was very nervous,” says Jennyfer of her first experience in a postseason meet. “With all the girls supporting me and each other, it wasn’t bad at all. Overall, it was a very fun experience.”
After learning so much during in her first season with the Easties’ swim team, Jennyfer has high hopes about what she can achieve in 2017.
“I have learned a lot. Coach Oshana taught me certain things I never knew before. Next year, I would like to accomplish breaking a record for our school,” says Jennyfer. “My favorite part was making new friends that share the same hobby as me and being involved with our school sports.”