STROKES OF BRILLIANCE: Princeton High boys’ swimmer David Brophy heads to victory in a freestyle race earlier this season. Last Saturday, senior star Brophy placed first in both the 200-meter freestyle and 100 butterfly at the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) Swimming Championships. Brophy’s superb performance helped PHS finish first in the team standings at the meet. It marked the fourth straight team crown for the Tigers at the county competition, formerly known as the Mercer County Swimming Championships. Brophy, for his part, was named the Most Valuable Swimmer for the boys at the meet. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

With Princeton High boys’ swimming team locked in a tense battle against rival WW/P-South for the team title at the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) meet last Saturday, the contest came down to the final event of the competition, the 400-meter freestyle.

Swimming the anchor leg for PHS, senior star David Brophy came through, out-sprinting Nick Straka of Lawrence to the wall at the WW/P-North pool as PHS took first to clinch the title.

“It was really amazing, tied going into the last leg and it was just me and Nick next to each other,” said Brophy, who helped PHS post a time of 3:36.47 with Lawrence just behind in 3:37.31.

“It was just a great race and a great way to push me and my team. I was really happy, obviously I could not have done without them. We came away with the team win, what a great way to end my senior counties meet.”

The Tigers ended up with a winning score of 245, edging South by just six points as they won their fourth straight crown at the county competition, formerly known as the Mercer County Swimming Championships.

“It is really important to me,” said Brophy, reflecting on the four-peat. “I train with David [Xu] and Jaiden [Xu] all of the time. Just to see their hard work pay off and getting the material result with the win is good to see. We definitely push each other to be as fast as we can. It was really a team effort. The margin in the end was so small. Everyone contributed, it was really important.”

Brophy was named the Most Valuable Swimmer in the meet as he placed first in the 200 free and 100 butterfly. His classmates, the Xu twins, also excelled at the competition as David won both the 200 individual medley and 100 back while Jaiden was third in both the 200 IM and 400 free. A fourth PHS senior, Daniel Guo, placed first in the 50 free and third in the 100 free.

Brophy and his fellow seniors have developed deep bonds over their time with the program.

“The senior group is just really special, these are guys that I am going to remember for the rest of my life,” said Brophy. “I have been swimming with them for the last four years. I just love it, it has been great. We won counties all four years so it is pretty amazing.”

In winning the 200 free, Brophy fought through some fatigue over the last half of the race.

“I just had one goal and that was to win and I got it done,” said Brophy, who finished at 1:55.85. “In that first 100, I felt really strong. In the second 100, I was definitely still tired from the relay. I was pretty happy about it.”

Later in the 100 fly, Brophy looked very strong, clocking a time of 56.68 to edge Vikram Pal of WW/P-South by just over a second.

“I have been doing a lot of butterfly, I have been working on it a lot,” said Brophy. “That was definitely my bigger focus of the two individual events. It was a great race. Vikram went out really fast, he really pushed me to go fast. I worked underwater that last 50 and it was pretty great.”

For Brophy, winning the MVS was the culmination of a lot of hard training.

“It is really spectacular, that is a great feeling,” said Brophy, who is headed to Colgate University where he will be competing for its men’s swimming team. “I have been swimming in this meet for four years. These past two years, I have put a lot of work in. I try not to skip practice. I have spent a lot of time practicing. To see that hard work pay off is really great. I am really happy to hear that. I could not have done it without my team in those relay wins.”

PHS head coach Carly Fackler urged her 400 relay quartet to play it smart as the title rested on their shoulders.

“The biggest thing I stressed to the guys was safe starts,” said Fackler. “It was funny because I walked up to them out in the hallway and I said, ‘Guys I have got one message,’ and Daniel Guo goes, ‘Safe starts.’ I said, ‘You took the words right out of my mouth.’”

Fackler was not surprised that Brophy pulled out the win for the Tigers with his gutsy anchor leg.

“He is a clutch swimmer,” said Fackler. “He gets the job done when it needs to be done. He knows exactly what has to be done to accomplish that. Brophy is such a standout kid.”

In reflecting on the program’s fourth straight title at the county competition, Fackler pointed to her standout senior class as a driving force.

“It is so special, that was our goal going into today especially for the senior class,” said Fackler. “You just look at the talent that they have. You swim as fast as you can in the medley relay and make a statement there. There is no looking back really after that point.”

While the quartet of Brophy, Guo and the Xu twins led the way, the squad’s supporting cast made a statement as well.

“Everyone did their job across the board, it is more than just the Brophys, the Xus, and the Guos winning their events,” said Fackler. “It is the people like Tyler Cenci, Shawn Elwood, and Jaden Jung. They are in those B finals and moving up in the B final. Every place that they can move up and any extra point they can give us helped to create that separation and give us a little bit more breathing room even though there still wasn’t much at the end.”

The Xu twins have given the PHS program a lot over the last four years and will be continuing their swimming careers at the next level as David is headed to Bowdoin College while Jaiden will be competing for Hamilton College.

“They are such great kids, in and out of the pool,” said Fackler.

“Both of them are so talented. Jaiden has really come a long way from his freshman year. The fact and that he and his brother went 1-3 in the IM was an awesome swim. After that, he also took another third place in the 400 free. Both of them moved up exactly where they needed to and swam the races that they needed to swim.”

Guo, for his part, has emerged as an unsung hero for the Tigers.

“Daniel is a little more under the radar but after that 50 he had that celebration, I love that,” said Fackler. “I know that was something he wanted to take. As a high school kid, it is I want to win that 50 free, that macho sprint event. I was really, really happy for him. He has been gradually progressing throughout this season too.”

Looking ahead to the upcoming state tournament, Fackler believes that winning the CVC gives her squad a boost as it heads into the stretch drive of the season.

“Counties is totally different than a dual meet, it is how do you stack up against all of the top-notch kids in the county rather than just one team at a time,” said Fackler. “I think it is great prep for states, we are really excited for it. I know I am excited for it. It is nice to have that next week off to rest and regroup there. We have to re-taper and build back up.”

Brophy is primed for the final push. “Going into states we know we are going to have some even tougher competition but I think this definitely changes our mindset a little bit,” said Brophy. “We now know it is time to go, it is time to go fast. We are ready for that. We have been improving all season long. We definitely haven’t peaked yet. We are going to have even tougher competition.”