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 (Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction) caption:
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CP Swim Star Zantal Surprised Himself By Earning PASDA Individual Accolade
By Bill Alden
Alex Zantal came into last week's Princeton Area Swimming and Diving Association (PASDA) championship meet determined to give his all.
"I wanted to do well," said Zantal, a 14-year-old who competes for the Community Park Bluefish. "I really tried much harder at the championship meet."
Zantal's efforts paid off as he was named the meet's Most Valuable Swimmer for the 14-and-under boys.
He earned that honor by taking first in the 50-yard freestyle in 24.93 and first in the 50 backstroke (30.66) together with helping CP's 200 medley team to victory.
Those results took Zantal himself by surprise. "I didn't think I would get first in two individual events," asserted Zantal, who will be entering Princeton High this fall. "I really wasn't expecting the backstroke. It was a really fun meet."
After starting to swim at the Princeton YMCA when he was 10, it didn't take long for Zantal to sense that he could express his competitive nature in the water.
"I always liked being in the water," said Zantal. "I got in the regular program at the Y and I realized that I wanted to do some more competitive stuff."
Once he took the plunge into racing with the CP Bluefish, he was hooked by the sport. "It was more my style," recalled Zantal, who swims with the Princeton-based X-Cel program from September through May. "I really liked to do the races. It's just exciting to show how hard you've trained and give what you got."
It was also exciting for Zantal to swim for a CP Bluefish team that went 5-0 in dual meets this summer in PASDA's Division I.
"I thought we did pretty well," said Zantal, reflecting on the squad's perfect season. "We have people from a lot of different clubs and we have a lot of fun. I don't get to see some of the other people very much during the year. We swim two hours every morning. It's relaxed."
Zantal, who is looking forward to joining the PHS swim team this year, particularly relished working with his partners on the 200 medley relay.
"In the individual events, you're pretty much swimming for yourself," said Zantal, whose relay quartet included John Yi, Sean MacKenzie, and Matthew Kietlinski.
"In the relays, the other members are counting on you. It's more close; there is a bond. We figured out each other's finishes as the season went on. I swim back, the first leg of the relay, and I have to try to take the lead."
Zantal's performance at the PASDA meet marks him as a potential leading man in the future for PHS.
