The Pirates’ swim team continues to impress every year. The team has not had a season with a record under 60% in 10 years. This season was no different as the Pirates finished with an impressive 8-4 record. The co-ed team traveled to the third round of the NJSIAA playoffs in Group C of the Central region, which includes powerhouses like Haddonfield, Rumson, and Holmdel. The Pirates upset the higher-seeded Rumson in an 88-82 finish, where every race counted.
“We knew it was a winnable meet despite being the lower seed… I spent a lot of time just looking at all the data and stats of their team versus ours,” Head Coach Colin Canfield said. “Try and also get in their coach’s head – it’s almost like a chess game, and we ended up pulling it off, stunning them. They did not expect Cinnaminson to come all the way up to Neptune and get a nice underdog win.”
Cinnaminson’s swim team under Canfield has a record of 25-10. In his three years as head coach of the Pirates, he has yet to miss the playoffs. Despite losing seniors each year to graduation, the leadership of these seniors and the examples they set during the season continue to leave an impression on the underclassmen.
“The seniors that leave us have always set such a great example for the underclassmen to take over their leadership role on the team,” Canfield said. “Seeing what we’ve accomplished before, despite not having the same people on the team as they graduate, the new freshmen that come and the people returning to the team get stronger each year and fill some really big shoes.”
Having watched this team grow through the years as a three-year starter for the Pirates, junior Carley Trampe knows how important it is to be flexible and resilient.
According to Trampe, the team deals with fluctuating rosters by “Learning how important it is for everyone to show up and give it their best.”
Many of the swimmers don’t just swim for the high school team but also participate in summer swim and other club swimming throughout the year. In these clubs, they can swim alongside their usual competitors – or vice versa – and swim against their fellow Pirates.
“It’s fun to see where everyone is at and have a friendly competition going on between all of us and seeing each other in different environments,” Trampe said.
Coach Canfield has to adjust to these club matches as they take some swimmers away from school meets. He said he has to move swimmers around in order to still be successful despite the setbacks. It isn’t just Cinnaminson that has to deal with this, though; almost every competitive school has to deal with the loss of swimmers to club matches.
“I think I swim better when I’m going against my friends because it just feels so much more competitive… The spirit of racing for your school also feeds into the competitiveness as it’s not just individual battles like in club,” sophomore Eden McNally said.
The rivalry against Delran is not as strong as it is in other sports as most athletes swim together for most of the year so the competitions are friendly when CHS faces the Bears. This year, the Pirates were able to come out on top with an 89-81 finish.
Most swim rivalries come when a South Jersey school goes against a North Jersey school, such as in the meet with Rumson. Canfield explained that he was getting lots of support from coaches in the area cheering on the Pirates as the team made the hour-and-a-half-long trip to take on the Bulldogs.
The team looks to continue its success with the return of a junior class with extensive experience, a talented sophomore class, and a hopeful freshman class that includes the younger siblings of some Pirate alumni and upperclassmen. It is also hoped that the incoming eighth-grade class can produce some numbers so the Pirates can continue their success next season.
