SARATOGA SPRINGS — With less than two weeks until sectionals begin, the Saratoga Springs varsity girls swim and dive team has certainly been enjoying a season to remember.
Entering this week, the Blue Streaks have dropped just one meet all season, remaining undefeated until a narrow 94-92 loss to Niskayuna on Oct. 3. Saratoga head coach Josh Muldner said that the team’s current group “has really stepped up to the occasion” this year.
“This group has just been a dynamic, fun, enthusiastic group of girls,” said Muldner. “Our seniors this year have really stepped up. But what has been really cool to watch is that we’ve got a lot of girls who’ve put in the work in the offseason, and our depth is as good as it’s been in years.”
He credited the team’s three seniors, Jillian Ferrie, Hannah Szymanski, and Angelina Damiano, for “leading the charge” this season, and emphasized the Blue Streaks have also received contributions from many of their athletes, also including Addison Kenney, Gianna DiMaggio, Saturn Cogan, Ella Nacheman, and Maggie Trautner, among others.
“I’ve been able to move girls around and put them in different events throughout the course of the season, and still win meets,” Muldner said. “That’s, in large part, due to the fact that we’ve got a lot of depth from our younger girls, who can swim almost anything. That’s really, really cool.”
Ferrie qualified for the NYSPHSAA state tournament in the 100-yard breaststroke on Oct. 7 at the Shen Breast Cancer Invitational, with a time of 1:07.81. Ferrie is one of several Blue Streaks with returning states experience, having competed along with Trautner, Kenney, and Victoria Gvozdeva in relay events at last year’s state tournament.
“There’s been so many kids who have taken that next step,” said Muldner.
Muldner also emphasized how the team has come together during the season, saying the Blue Streaks’ squad is full of “great human beings.” The Saratoga team is set to host a Swim-A-Thon event on Saturday to raise money for the Sloan-Kettering Memorial Cancer Center and 2023 Saratoga graduate Olivia Allen, Muldner said.
“This group has just been a dynamic, fun, enthusiastic group of girls,” Muldner said. “Not only are they all-stars in the classroom, they’re great human beings who give me everything that they’ve got when they’re at that pool.”
The Section 2 Championships are set to begin on Nov. 2, with the start of diving events. Preliminaries for swim events begin on Nov. 3, with the finals taking place the following day.
Muldner noted the Blue Streaks’ competition will be challenging, saying the Suburban Council consists of “some of the best competition in the state.”
“Niskayuna, Shen, Bethlehem, amongst others, will be very tough competitors at sectionals,” Muldner said. “We’re going to go in and try to put together our best game.”
Throughout the season, the Blue Streaks have been focused on the process, with Muldner saying “the outcomes will be there” if the team is able to do the little things correctly.
“If you focus on good turns, if you focus on the approach on the board, the outcomes will be there. But you’ve got to trust the process,” Muldner said. “That’s kind of been our mantra this year, ‘Trust the process.’”
