OH HENRY: Princeton High boys’ swimmer Henry Xu displays his breaststroke form in a recent meet. Last Thursday, senior star Xu swam the breaststroke leg in the victorious 200-yard medley relay, placed fourth in the 200 individual medley, and then won the 100 breast as PHS topped Hopewell Valley 120-50 and Ewing 140-28 in a tri-meet. The Tigers are next in action when they face Notre Dame at The College of New Jersey on January 3. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Henry Xu focused on the butterfly when he started competitive swimming but eventually found he was better suited for another stroke.

“I used to be a flyer a long time ago, then I became a breaststroker,” said Xu, a senior standout for the Princeton High boys’ swim team. “It has been my go-to stroke for four or five years. What is interesting about me is my physique isn’t a like a normal breaststroke physique like bulky, huge. I work on the technique; my stroke rate is fast and it is pretty precise.”

Last Thursday, as PHS hosted Hopewell Valley and Ewing in tri-meet, Xu displayed his technique, swimming the breaststroke leg in the victorious 200-yard medley relay, taking fourth in the 200 individual medley, and then winning the 100 breast. Xu’s big day helped PHS top Hopewell Valley 120-50 and Ewing 140-28 and improve to 6-0.
Other individual victors for the Tigers at the meet included David Brophy in the 200 freestyle and 500 free, Daniel Guo in the 200 IM, and David Xu in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke.

Opening the meet with the medley relay helped breaststroker Xu get into a rhythm.

“We don’t have a lot of time to warm up so I feel like the medley really gets me started,” said Xu. “It gets your body warm, you get hyped. Everyone is ready to go.”

For Xu, competing in the 200 IM is a good way for him to get some variety.

“I am not mainly a 200 IM swimmer, I have a weapon in the 50 breast so I try to utilize that in my 200 IM,” said Xu “Sometimes it goes well for me, sometimes it doesn’t.”

While Xu cruised to first in the 100 breast in a time of 1:00.73, he has plenty of room to grow this season.

“That is my bread and butter, my go-to; I am kind of a pure sprinter,” said Xu, reflecting on his win. “As for the 100 breast, I try to get that done every meet and get first place every meet for that one. It is the start of the season, I can definitely see myself improving because in other meets when I am ready and everything tapered, I can go 58. I am not sad with the results in this meet, the results are great.”

Xu is happy with how the PHS squad is coming together in and out of the pool.

“We have a strong team, not just from times but we have great relationships with each other,” said Xu. “We push each other to our max. We have a lot of club swimmers here, so we have been knowing each other for years. We keep building this team chemistry up and I feel like we could bring this team somewhere.”

As a senior, Xu is looking to help build up that team chemistry with last year’s senior mainstays, Daniel Baytin and Julian Velazquez, having graduated.

“This year I have taken up a leadership role and position to motivate the guys and the girls as well,” said Xu. “I trying to spread positivity to everyone on the team. We lost Baytin, Julian, and a lot of our strong swimmers. I am trying to just take up that role and trying to get everyone back into our peak shape.”

PHS head coach Carly Misiewicz looks for Xu to provide versatility in addition to his excellence in the breaststroke.

“The breaststroke is his bread and butter but he is somebody who I have told you are going to have to be OK with doing that 200 free relay and the 100 breast,” said Misiewicz. “You are somebody who could potentially be one of our top sprinters. It is always a puzzle and how do we match up best against other teams. Just because he did the IM and breast today and Tuesday (in a 108-62 win over WW/P-North) doesn’t mean that those are your two events all the time. It may be the 50 free and the 100 breast. We may need you in the 200 free. His freestyle is definitely something he has been working on to get better.”

Xu has also been working on his leadership qualities along with the squad’s other upperclassmen.

“Obviously knowing who we graduated with Dan and Julian, he has stepped up and filled those shoes,” said Misiewicz. “They were heavy hitters in and of themselves. I just think how our junior and senior classes have been really stepping up this year has been tremendous.”

Junior standout Brophy has been stepping up in the freestyle events, displaying a remarkable versatility.

“Brophy is having a great year, his technique is flawless, his kick is great,” said Misiewicz. “He puts 110 percent into every single swim. He is someone who can get in and go a 21 in a 50 free and then go a 4:40 in the 500 free. It is so impressive. I only had him in three things today and he said before the meet, ‘I can do another relay if you want me to.’ I said, “Enjoy today with just three, because is it not always going to happen,’ just from seeing how much he has improved.”

Misiewicz is seeing improvement in a lot of her veterans, including juniors Jaiden Xu, Jaiden Jung, and David Xu along with senior Zach Guan.

“Jaiden Xu and Jaiden Jung have really improved; David Xu is David Xu, he has always been that way since freshman year,” said Misiewicz. “Jaiden Xu has gotten so much faster, his 500 is 4:44, 46. Zach Guan is another senior for us this year. It is great to see the progress they have made.”

With PHS next in action it faces Notre Dame at The College of New Jersey on January 3, Misiewicz believes her squad is in a good place.

“I couldn’t be happier, they are excited to get in and race, they are looking forward to what is to come,” said Misiewicz. “I will have conversations with them, like, ‘All right, what do we think about this lineup’ or ‘Who wants to switch around.’ It is that puzzle, finding out how we can maximize and play to our strengths and their weaknesses in general, whoever the opponents are.”

The Tigers are determined to make another strong postseason run with the county meet and state team tournament on the horizon.

“We are lucky (to have so much talent), but it makes it difficult in that sense,” said Misiewicz, whose boys’ team won the county meet and advanced to the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) North 2 Group B sectional final last winter. “The good thing is having unpredictable lineups too, you keep the other team guessing who is going where. That is what I love about the postseason, the fact that in any event, something can change in a moment. It is not solidified. You are always looking to that postseason and that end goal.”

Xu, for this part, believes that the PHS is on track to reach its goals.

“Heading into the holiday season, we are going to take a little bit of time off but we are still going to be grinding out, getting the mileage in,” said Xu. “Heading into counties, I think we are the favorite to win. We are going to try to keep it that way and after counties we keep developing our team. We are going to have strong season. We have been biting on to that for a long time — it is a motivation for us.”