Swim Teams Have Historic Day at Counties

The boys’ and girls’ swim teams had great performances at the Somerset County Championships on Saturday, January 25, breaking four school records and recording numerous top finishes.
 
The day was highlighted by Becca Michaels ’20 winning the 50 freestyle in a Meet of Champions qualifying time of 24.88. It was a historic win for Michaels, as she became the first GSB swimmer to win a title at either the conference or county championship. Michaels would also claim seventh in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:00.98.
 
“I was so happy for Becca,” said head coach Nolan Silbernagel. “She is a phenomenal swimmer and teammate, and I could not think of anyone more deserving to bring this first title to GSB.”
 
Maddie Soultanian ’22 also had two phenomenal swims on the day. She took two seconds off her 100 freestyle time to go 56.66 and finish seventh overall, and also took two seconds off her 100 backstroke to go 1:04.41 to finish 14th overall. Olivia Soultanian ‘20 had a strong showing in the 100 freestyle, dropping two seconds to go 1:01.56 and finish 19th overall.
 
The Soultanian sisters, Michaels, and Laura Howard ’21 teamed up for an incredible 200 freestyle relay time of 1:47.60, smashing the school record by three seconds and finishing 6th overall. That same squad teamed up to go 4:00.19 in the 400 freestyle relay and finish eighth, while being just half a second off the team record.
 
Overall, the girls scored 62 points, finishing eighth out of 13 teams, placing ahead of rival Bernards by one point.
 
The boys' team started off its portion of the championship meet with a bang, as Jonathan Osma ‘20, Adrian Massuet ‘20, Robert Brandl ‘20, and Jake Baber ‘21 teamed up to break the school record in the 200 medley relay in a time of 1:53.33.
 
Osma kept up his record-breaking swims, as he re-broke his 200 individual medley team record with a time of 2:25.10, finishing 21st overall. He also re-broke his school record in the 100 backstroke, going 1:03.67 and finished 23rd overall.
 
Brandl bested his previous season best in the 200 freestyle by nine seconds and finished 22nd overall. His brother, Ryan ’22, dropped two and a half seconds in his 100 breaststroke to finish 23rd overall. Massuet went his fastest 100 breaststroke time since freshman year, dropping a second off his PR, going 1:13.88 and finishing 19th overall. 
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Gill St. Bernard's School

P.O. Box 604, St. Bernard's Road, Gladstone, NJ 07934  |  908-234-1611
Gill St. Bernard’s is a private, coeducational day school for students age three through grade 12, located in suburban New Jersey. Each of the three school divisions provides a rigorous, meaningful, and age-appropriate curriculum, and all students benefit from the environmental learning opportunities that exist on our 208-acre campus.