Serena Deardorff is not waiting until her senior year to take a major leadership role for the Princeton High girls’ swimming team.

“Every junior is more of a role model for the team, not just the seniors,” said junior star Deardorff.

“We have to be there and show them what they should be doing rather than just sitting there; we should be out there for the team.”

Last week, the Little Tigers were pressed to show their stuff as they edged a tough Robbinsville team 90-80.

“It was a pretty tough challenge, it was a good way to start our third meet of the season,” said Deardorff of the matchup with the Raven squad which is a combined team including some top-flight swimmers from Allentown.

“Everyone’s adrenaline was going; we got everyone cheering for our teammates and it was really exciting, we have all the spirit we need and it really does help in the water.”

Deardorff produced a spirited performance, placing a tight second in the 200 individual medley before coming back to win the 100 butterfly.

“It was a really good race; I loved racing Taylor [Johnson],” said Deardorff, reflecting on the 200 IM race.

“I don’t think getting second had any effect on me; it was just fun. We are both really exhausted because we had a big club meet this weekend. We went all out and that is all that really matters. In the 100, I felt better. I didn’t have Taylor to race there but it doesn’t really matter who I am racing. I am just trying to swim hard.”

PHS head coach Greg Hand saw Deardorff as exemplifying the solid effort he got from his swimmers.

“I thought Serena was a good example of somebody who gave 100 percent today and she’s got so much experience racing. She knows full well that she can’t influence anything except what is going on in her lane.”

Hand, though, acknowledges that Deardorff is having an influence on the team beyond her excellence in the pool.

“As she is getting older, she is just becoming a more confident person and is someone who seems to have a really good sense of herself and is genuinely friendly towards everyone on the team,” said Hand.

“She is injecting a lot of energy on the deck and into the team so that’s sort of automatically happening which is great. She is also conscious that she can have a really big impact because she is somebody who is automatically going to be a role model for the kids on the team. It is nice to see her realizing that there is something that she can do and ought to do and she is doing exactly that.”

In the win over Robbinsville, the Little Tigers followed Deardorff’s lead with their focus on the job at hand.

“I had this sense that the kids seemed to be excited; they were concerned with their own races,” said Hand, who got a win from Christie Samios in the 100 backstroke with Marisa Giglio taking second in both 100 and 200 freestyle races.

“They didn’t seem too worried about the score. I wasn’t getting a lot of questions about the score, which in my opinion is always a good sign. If the kids know that the only thing they can do is perform their best in their own lane, then that will be a scrappy meet. If they are worried about externals then they are really underperforming. I was happy that the kids were really trying to do their best and supporting each other.”

Hand sees that support permeating the team, both on race days and in training.

“We have a big infusion of swimmers across a whole spectrum of experience and ability but the common factor is that they seem to enjoy each other,” said Hand.

“They seem to be buying into the idea that one of the ways to assess how we are doing is how it feels when we are out there training together and how it feels during meets. I really enjoy the team. Having fun is not near the top of my priority list but when we are having fun in the right way, we know we are training better.”

Deardorff, for her part, is confident that the team is headed in the right direction.

“I think we are going to have a great season despite our loss of seniors,” said Deardorff.

“I think we really can surprise some people. Going into this meet, we thought it was going to be a really big challenge and it was. I had this gut instinct that we could pull through. I know there are some meets where we know we are not going to win but I don’t think that should matter. We should go in just trying to improve individually and that will help the team in the end if everyone can do their best and drop their times.”