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 (Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction) caption:
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Millar Helps Lead PHS Boys' Swimmers To a Fifth Consecutive Sectional Final
By Bill Alden
Matt Millar hit the water this past fall to get in better shape for his final season of swimming at Princeton High.
But instead of putting in extra laps in the pool, Millar's training consisted of rowing on Lake Mercer with the Mercer juniors.
Hardened by his hours of pulling oars in the boat, Millar has produced a stellar senior season which has seen him pile up points for the Little Tigers in the freestyle, butterfly, and the relays.
Last Thursday, Millar placed second in the 50-yard fly, third in the 50 free and helped the 200 medley and 200 free relay teams to first-place finishes as PHS cruised to a 119-51 win over WW/P-N in a Central Jersey Public B sectional semifinal matchup.
In reflecting on his improvement this winter, Millar gave a major share of the credit to his rowing experience.
"This is the first time I've come off a fall sport into swimming so I think that helped me out a lot," said the genial Millar with a smile.
"Having a whole season of being active as opposed to sitting around, I went into the swimming season in shape. It started me off on a different level. I'm much better at just about everything I do."
Millar thought PHS hit a higher level in its performance against WW/P-N. "We're really getting into the state meet format," said Millar, who looked to keep improving when PHS faced undefeated Rumson in the sectional final scheduled for February 22.
"We're trying a lot harder in our practice goals. We're trying a lot harder in the meets. We're just looking to get better all the time. I think that everyone in general was getting faster. I think that's going to continue."
PHS head coach Greg Hand is confident that his boys' swimmers can keep getting better as they compete in the program's fifth straight sectional final.
In topping the Northern Knights, PHS' individual winners included Pete Hand, the top finisher in both the 200 Individual medley and the 100 breaststoke, Tom McKinley, the winner of the 50 free, Ben Wilde, the victor in the 100 free, Joe Carroll, the top swimmer in the 500 free, and Connor Bowman the winner of the 100 backstroke.
"State meets are a gut check," asserted Hand. "We're used to having plenty of recovery [between races]. Some teams in New Jersey swim single gender and they know what it feels like to finish a race and then get right up again for another race."
Hand noted with a smile that at least one of his swimmers lost his guts in the process last Thursday. "We had one kid who got out of the pool and walked immediately to the garbage can and threw up," said Hand.
"Then he got right back in for the next one. That's the nature of swimming, particularly at these meets. We tell our swimmers to swim hard and have fun, that's a lot easier said than done."
Hand has had a lot of fun observing Millar's progress. "Matt has a terrific temperament," asserted Hand of his senior star who is headed to Yale this fall.
"He works as hard as anybody to do every piece of every workout exactly as he is asked to. He's come along every year with positive feedback coming from the clock."
In Hand's view, Millar has made particularly large strides in his final high school campaign. "It wasn't until this year that I started seeing him as a really fast kind," explained Hand, whose club improved to 12-2 with the win. "A lot of that is due to his rowing. He's much stronger and can apply that strength for longer periods than he used to be able to."
Millar and his classmates are looking to leave the program with a strong legacy. "It's a good feeling to be part of a team that can do that consistently," said Millar, reflecting on the team's run of sectional finals.
"We try to set an example for the rest of the team. We're trying to do what the guys years ago did for us, showing us how to win and be fast swimmers."
Millar's thirst for improvement has certainly set a good example for his teammates.
