(Photo by Frank Wojciechowski) caption: AIR SUPPLY: Emma Campisi of the Nassau Swim Club Lemmings comes up for air in a breaststroke race earlier this summer. Last week, Campisi placed 10th in the Division 1 girls’ 12-and-under 50-meter breaststroke at the Princeton-Area Swimming and Diving Association (PASDA) championship meet and helped the 200 medley relay team take fifth.

Fighting Uphill Battle at PASDA Meet, Nassau Swim Club Shows its Quality

Bill Alden

Carla Tuan personified the spirit displayed by the Nassau Swim Club Lemmings as they competed last week in the Princeton-Area Swimming and Diving Association (PASDA) championship meet.

While the Lemmings didn’t have the quantity of competitors to match the larger squads in the six-club Division 1 classification, the Nassau swimmers produced plenty of quality performances.

The 13-year-old Tuan, for her part, took first in both the girls’ 14-and-under 100-meter individual medley and butterfly races and added a second in the 50 breaststroke. “I can swim Carla in anything and she will do well,” said Nassau head coach Beth Nagle, referring to the Lawrenceville-bound Tuan who also competes for the X-Cel swim club.

“I asked her before the meet what she wanted to swim and she said whatever I wanted. Unlike some of the other year-round swimmers, she comes to practice everyday. She loves Nassau.”

Nagle loved the effort she got from throughout her team at the meet that took place at the Flemington-Raritan Community Pool from July 26-27.

In the 10-and-under boys, Ben Amon, Simon Sheppard, and Dylan DeJean starred while Ella Caddeau, Veronique DiBlasio, and Isabelle Monaghan stood out for the 10-and-under girls.

Anthony Momo, Jake Caddeau, and Huw Helman produced some highlights for the 11-12 boys with Maggie Gardner and Bridget DiBlasio coming up big for the 11-12 girls.

As for the girls in the 13-18 age range, Daniela Momo starred along with Tuan while Harun Filipovic, Ramon Olivier, and Nicholas Bunn had some nice swims for the 13-18 boys.

“Daniela did well, not only did she swim, she was one of the coaches and worked with our 10-year-olds,” asserted Nagle.

“The older boys did well in the relays. Maggie Gardner also did well, I can’t believe that she is 12-and-under already. Bridget is only 11 so she will have another year with the 12s. Jake Caddeau had some good swims.”

The team’s younger swimmers showed some good potential for the future.

“Isabelle Monaghan is in her last year in the eight-and-under and did well,” added Nagle.

“Ella Caddeau was also good. She had a great medley relay with Isabelle, Bridget and Samantha Campisi.”

Nagle acknowledged that the Lemmings were overmatched as they moved up the PASDA first division this summer after winning the Division 2 regular season title in 2009.

“We struggled this year with the first division,” said Nagle, whose team placed last in Division 1 and will be headed back to the second division next year.

“We seem to dominate the second division so we are looking forward to that next year. We have a lot of kids who will be in the same age group next year. We have good talent, we just don’t have big numbers.”

As usual, Nassau showed big spirit throughout the summer. “They are cheering for each other; they have the spirit of Nassau whether we are winning or not,” said Nagle.

“We scored plenty of points in every meet. The kids would see one of their teammates win a race and they wouldn’t care about the score of the meet. The kids enjoyed all the meets; they had a good time.”

For Nagle, a former Nassau standout herself, it is enjoyable to see history repeating itself.

“It is fun watching them go through what I went through and seeing them enjoy the sport,” said Nagle.

“We have our traditions; we do the same things now that we did when I was a swimmer. We have a pizza party after the last meet and other things like that. Some of the kids who are coaches now were in my four-year-old swimming class when I was a lifeguard. They have learned the sportsmanship, fun, and spirit.”

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