(Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction) SERIOUS FUN: Community Park Bluefish star Hannah Matheson displays her butterfly form. Last week, the 14-year-old Matheson came up big at the Princeton Area Swimming and Diving Association (PASDA) championship meet, winning the girls 14-and-under Division I 100-meter individual medley, the 50 butterfly, and taking third in the 50 backstroke.

With Matheson Setting a Positive Tone, CP Bluefish Mixed Competition and Fun

Bill Alden

Hannah Matheson knows what it’s like to compete in big-time swimming meets, having taken part in the New Jersey Junior Olympics and the Eastern Age-Group finals.

Swimming year-round for the Eastern Express club, the 14-year-old Matheson thrives in the high-stakes atmosphere found in state and regional competitions.

But having started her swimming career eight summers ago by competing with the Community Park Bluefish, Matheson has a special place in her heart for the lower key brand of competition found in June and July.

“I always look forward to summer swimming; I look forward to competing against my close friends on other teams,” said Matheson.

“It is a lot of fun to get to race them out of the Express. There is not the pressure; you just go swim and have fun.”

Last week, Matheson had a lot of fun competing in the Princeton Area Swimming and Diving Association (PASDA) championship meet, winning the girls 14-and-under Division I 100-meter individual medley, the 50 butterfly, and taking third in the 50 backstroke.

“I won the two events I was focusing on the most, the 50 fly and the 100 IM, said Matheson in assessing her performance at the PASDA meet.

“I still had the records from last year; I didn’t lower them but I kept them the same which I was happy about too. I did the 50 back but I wasn’t focusing on that one as much.”

For Matheson, swimming for the Bluefish is a family affair with her father, Brent, and her uncles all having swum for CP.

“My dad’s family were swimmers; he was also a really big influence on me and now he is my coach on Eastern Express,” added Matheson.

“My aunt and uncle tell me they won this or that when I was your age. It is fun. I just get fired up to talk to them about my races.”

CP head coach Mark Kolman was fired up about how his team competed at the PASDA meet.

“I think we had a very solid performance; we didn’t have as many swimmers there as we would have liked to have had,” said Kolman, noting that several swimmers were away on vacation.

“We were able to finish our dual meet record only losing to Cranbury. But when it came time for the West Windsor Mini-Meet and the PASDA, we didn’t have all of our weapons available. I think considering who we took to each of those meets, we did a great job.”

In Kolman’s view, Matheson did a great job for the Bluefish at the PASDA meet and all summer long.

“Hannah is just such a great personality; she is a happy person who always has a smile on her face,” said Kolman.

“She always shows good sportsmanship, shaking hands with all of her competitors. With her, it is this quiet leadership style that she has; she does set the tone for everybody.”

Other CP girl swimmers like Ceara Bowman and June Zhang set a positive tone with their competitive fire.

“Ceara has been doing a lot of hard work with her club team (X-Cel) and these summer meets are an opportunity for the year-round swimmers to have a little barometer into how hard they are working and what kind of progress they are making,” said Kolman, who got some good work from some of his younger girl swimmers including Madeline Hoedemaker, Pepper Kolman, and Sarah Gulbranson.

“June Zhang did have a very good meet; She is someone like Hannah; she is a quiet person but at the same time she is one of those swimmers who is the backbone of the team.”

Another swimmer who wields major influence on his fellow swimmers is 12-year-old star Will Stange.

“Will brings more of a quiet energy; he is very focused,” asserted Kolman of Stange who won the 100 IM, 50 fly, and 50 free in addition to helping the 200 free relay team take second.

“He is very intent; he’s got his goals and he knows what he wants to do. The kids pick up on that; they know what he is trying to accomplish. They follow along with him.”

CP’s 10-year-old standout Gabriel Bar-Cohen seems to be following Stange’s example.

“What Gabriel brings is a competitive excitement,” said Kolman of Bar-Cohen who won the 100 IM and the 25 breast and took second in the 25 fly.

“He gets so amped up and excited about racing and he always has fun with it. That is something that is contagious among the little kids. I think they feed off the excitement they see in him.”

Some of the Bluefish’s older boys produced some exciting results as well.

“Peter Deardorff did well,” added Kolman of the Princeton High star who was second in the boys 18-and-under 50 fly, third in the 50 free, fourth in the 100 IM, and helped the 200 free relay place second.

“Kyle Petchock really stepped up and had some really great races. Max Wilde was another frontline guy. I guess overall, we kind of quietly go about our business and quietly do our thing. I think that a lot of that has to do with the personalty a lot of the kids bring with them.”

While the Bluefish may not be the loudest team, they certainly had plenty of laughs this summer.

“It has been a great summer; it is exactly what summer swimming is supposed to be,” said Kolman, the Hun School swim coach and a former All-American swimmer at Tennessee who was in his first year at the helm of the Bluefish program.

“The kids did some hard work and they had a lot of fun. They did some fast swimming and did some hard playing. That’s what it’s all about.”

Matheson, for her part, relished the blend of competition and camaraderie she found again with the Bluefish this summer.

“I was pretty happy about it,” said Matheson. “I know we did lose a lot of kids from last year; I definitely think we did really well. It is a lot of fun, I love watching the other kids get into it.”

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