South Windsor Girls Swimming and Diving Team Remains Unbeaten

For all of the great seasons that the South Windsor High teams are having this fall, only one Bobcats side is still undefeated.

Quick - can you name it?

Nope, not the soccer teams; they both have lost to their Glastonbury counterparts.

Not field hockey - despite its historic victory over Glastonbury last Friday, that team has one loss as well.

And, no, not the highly touted volleyball squad. It has two losses - one to, yes, Glastonbury, and the other to Maloney.

So what South Windsor team’s record remains unblemished? Give up?

Its the Bobcats’ girls swimming and diving team, which just improved its record to 5-0 with a 93-85 victory over East Catholic on Tuesday at Star Hill in Tolland.

South Windsor won despite not featuring any divers, essentially conceding the event to East Catholic.

Instead, the Bobcats won six individual swimming events and all three relays.

Allie Romanowski won the 200 free in 2:08.33, Kelly Wentworth touched out first in the 50 free in 26:63, Jenny Belanger placed first in the 100 butterfly (1:06.13), just edging teammate Christine Lenkeit (1:06.26), Lauren Branscombe won the 100 free (57.56) and Kate Niemiec won the 100 backstroke in 1:05.52.

All three relay teams - the 200 medley (Niemiec, Jackie Kenefick, Michelle Robidoux and Branscombe), the 200 free (Wentworth, Robidoux, Branscombe and Romanowski) and the 400 free (Romanowski, Belanger, Niemiec and Branscombe) - also placed first in impressive fashion.

“Today our relays impressed me because we wound up going one-two,” head coach Heather Lodge said. “Some of the events we won first and second in 100 fly and 100 free really surprised me.”

Not bad for a self-funded team that is in just its third season of existence. In it’s first year, the team had 16 swimmers. This year, the program has 32.

“We’ve doubled in size in the last three years,” Lodge said. “So far so good this year. We had a big win against Farmington that was unexpected, but did a lot for our confidence. I think we have a good chance of going undefeated the rest of the regular season until our rival Glastonbury. They have a really good team, so it’s going to be difficult.”

That Lodge and her charges are even thinking of slaying Glastonbury on Oct. 23 is impressive given that the program is run entirely through the efforts of parents and students, who have raised about $100,000 in the last three years.

Prior to the program’s startup, swimmers from South Windsor would travel as far as Bristol to compete as teams of one.

Lodge hopes that the Board of Education will try to fund the program next year - the deal was for the program to pay for itself for three years, then the school board would evaluate the situation.

Now three years is up - though the school board has a large expenditure looming with the potential addition of all-day kindergarten.

Still, if that doesn’t happen, Lodge believes there still will be a girls swimming and diving team.

“Three years ago we didn’t have anything,” she said. “We still do a lot of fundraisers - by being self funded, everyone is vested in the program. … Hopefully, we’ll still have the program.”