Belle Vernon swimming hoping that experience leads to success
Led by senior Mary Wardle and junior Tom Crawford, Belle Vernon’s boys and girls swim teams return a combined 12 letterwinners five boys and seven girls and are picking up where they left off in their bid to qualify for the WPIAL District 7 championships. Belle Vernon will compete in Section 5 AA
“Our girls are focused,” said Rob Reda, in his thirteenth year with the Leopards swimmers. “They have their goals and are working hard to achieve those goals.”
Individually, Mary Wardle finished tenth in the WPIAL in the 50 freestyle last year and qualified in both the 200 and 400 freestyle relays. She also competes in the 100 freestyle, but, according to Reda, the 50 is her better event.
“She is a head down swimmer. She puts her head down and sprints all out,” Reda said. “Her turn is the best part of her race and she is working on improving her start. She is like a bullet in the water and she is a strong finisher.”
In the mid 25 second range in the 50, Wardle is close to school records in both the 50 and 100.
“Mary doesn’t breathe at all in the 50,” Reda said, chuckling. “Well, maybe she takes two breaths the entire race. She runs down other swimmers at the turn and is determined to go to states this year.”
Qualifying last year for the WPIALs in the 200 freestyle alongside Mary Wardle were her sister, Rebecca, and Mollee Tunney, both juniors.
“They have a year of experience and we are building upon that experience,” Reda said. “We have three returning swimmers in that event and are looking for a fourth.”
In the 400 freestyle relay, which also qualified for WPIALs last year, both Mary and Rebecca Wardle are back for another shot at WPIALs and Reda is searching for two swimmers to complete the team.
On the boys’ side, Crawford qualified last year for WPIALs as a sophomore in the 500 yard freestyle and is the only returning WPIAL individual qualifier among Belle Vernon’s boys.
“The 500 freestyle is his strength,” Reda noted. “He works his turns well and he is consistent lap to lap, holding his times for each lap. He swims an overall smart race and is a good, hard worker.”
Crawford’s best time in the 500 is 5:07, with the school record at 4:44, “but his time is a solid 5:07,” Reda continued, “and he is only beginning his junior year. Our goal is to get his time in the vicinity of 4:50 to 4:55.”
Strong in the relays, BV’s 200 medley qualified for the WPIALs last year.
Sophomores Matt Bronakowski (butterfly) and Alex Yawny (freestyle and breaststroke), and junior Scott Verner (backstroke and breaststroke) return in the 200 medley to give the Leopards a leg up entering the season.
In the 200 freestyle relay, Reda is looking at another group of experienced swimmers in Verner, Crawford, junior Brandon Luda, and either Yawny or Bronakowski.
“Scott, Tom, and Brandon represent our core,” Reda noated. “We are building our team around them.”
Verner, Crawford, and Luda are looking for a fourth to complete their foursome in the 400 freestyle relay.
“Especially with no seniors, we have a young team,” Reda said, referring to the boys’ squad, “but we are working hard and swimming well in practice. That’s an early good sign and we have high expectations. Our boys are pretty fast and they are already talking about high goals and our boys have already improved their times since last year. We may be young, but we have a good core of swimmers, and we will be together this year and next. Having only nine guys and that may hurt us in meets but we should swim a lot of races. If we stay focused and healthy we could achieve our goals.”
Last year, Belle Vernon placed 14th in the WPIAL team championship, while the Leopards finished fifth and seventh, respectively in 2008 and 2009.
BV’s only WPIAL individual champion, noted Reda, has been Brad Hoffman, who copped the 200 Individual Medley and 100 backstroke in 1990. Hoffman was the PIAA that same season. In college, he competed for Florida State and placed tenth in the 1992 Olympic trials.