Nob Valley still a force among county teams
BY DOUG McKENZIE
Staff Writer

PHOTOS BY SCOTT PILLING staff Above, Brett Fitzgerald of the Nob Valley Swim Club competes in the 100-meter freestyle during a recent meet with Middlesex in North Brunswick. Below, 6-year-old prodigy Jesse Gibbons competes in the backstroke event.

NORTH BRUNSWICK - There's something in the water at the Nob Valley Swim Club - talented swimmers.

Despite competing against teams with much larger rosters, the Nob Valley team continues to be one of the top squads in the county, though they're having to work a little harder at it this year.

With a somewhat smaller roster than what he's been accustomed to, Nob Valley head coach Brian Rose has had to work on his recruiting skills this summer.

Rose, who is in his sixth year as head coach of the North Brunswick team (and his eighth year coaching overall), started the season with just 35 swimmers on the roster - a disappointing total when you consider his team faces larger teams in its division with as many as 138 athletes at their disposal.

"We're definitely smaller than in years past," Rose said. "I guess for a while we had some luck with the number of young swimmers coming out and staying with the program. We're just not getting as many people in the younger age groups, but we're working on it."

With the help of his assistant coaches, sister Julie Rose and Nob Valley veteran Chris Turkiewicz, the head coach has increased his roster to 50 swimmers so far, with hopes that there are more on the way.

"Julie also teaches swim lessons at the club, and she's trying to push some of her students to join the swim team, too," Brian Rose said. "We're treating her lessons like they're the minor leagues of the swim team."

While Nob Valley has never fielded one of the larger teams in the New Jersey Swimming and Diving Conference, they have managed to remain competitive due to the talent of the swimmers they've had.

"It's really been a matter of luck," Rose said. "We've always been a smaller club over the years, but we've always been able to compete with the larger clubs, whereas other teams with similar numbers haven't been able to compete as we have.

"We've had some very good swimmers to compensate for our numbers. We've been a surprising team for our size, but it's tough to maintain that success with the type of membership we have."

This year, Nob Valley has come back to the pack a bit after finishing second (behind Middlesex) in the 10-team NJSDC. Nob Valley entered last night's meet with Cedar Hill at 2-2, having already beaten Cedar Hill and Rivercrest this summer, while losing to Middlesex and Frog Hollow.

"The Cedar Hill match was close, but the Rivercrest match wasn't," Rose said. "Rivercrest just got moved up to our division (the NJSDC's B League Red), and I don't know if they were missing a lot of their swimmers or what, but they didn't seem ready for us."

Rose said that the loss to Frog Hollow was a close one, while Middlesex proved to be the better team once again.

"Against Frog Hollow, I thought we were equal to them, but we lost without a big portion of our team there," he said. "But Middlesex, nobody's going to beat them. They're just on another level than everyone else because of their size."

Nob Valley will face Middlesex again next Wednesday, and Rose is hoping that some of his squad's new additions will help close the gap a bit.

Turkiewicz, who is in his first year coaching after turning 19, is working with the 8-and-under swimmers. His group of competitors is led by Jesse Gibbons, whom Rose called the team's "prodigy."

"Jesse comes from a swimming family and has been swimming since he was 4," the head coach said. "He was the first 4-year-old to compete at Nob Valley, and is our top scorer in the 8U group, even though he's only 6 years old. He's got a couple of more years to dominate that age group."

The same can be said for Nina Trach, the top 8U girl.

"Jesse and Nina are our best 8U swimmers and will be very good for that age group for the next couple of years," Rose said.

Jesse's older brother Vinnie is the top point-scorer among the 9-10 boys.

"Vinnie was our top scorer last year as a 9-year-old, and he holds the team record in three different events," Rose said. "A lot of times he'll swim up in the 11-12 races because he's good enough to compete there as well."

Brett Fitzgerald and Shawn Bauer are also consistent scorers for the 9-10 boys, while Amanda Stankiewicz leads the girls contingent in that age group.

"Amanda was No. 2 in points last year for us," Rose said. "I think of her and Vinnie as our powerhouse pair because we can only count on a lot of points from them.

"Ally Simpson is another 9-10 girl who has made a big improvement since last year, " Rose added. "She has stepped up to score a lot of points in an area where we really needed it."

The 11-12 boys group is being carried by Matt Budzick and Paul Wagner, while Annie Bucca has come on strong of late for the girls.

"She wasn't there for the first two meets, but in the last two she has raced in four events and won all of them," Rose said, adding that Tessa Trach and Samantha Wereszczak have also performed well in this age group.

Matt Burke is the top 13/14 boys swimmer, having set a couple of team records already this summer, while Nick Wereszczak and Tyler Coe are also swimming well.

"Tyler just joined the team, and just turned 13 a couple of weeks ago," Rose said. "It's kind of a tough spot for him, swimming in the 13-18 races right off the bat, but he has shown a ton of potential."

The girls 13/14 group is led by Ascia Johnson, who holds the team record in the 100 freestyle, as well as Nicole Gibbons and Sara Stankiewicz.

The 15/18 boys group is what Rose called the "deepest age group on the team."

And it's a good thing, too.

"We've had to deal with somewhat of a revolving door of people here because of people missing meets due to a slew of different commitments," the coach said.

Andy Rose, the coach's 16-year-old brother, has been the most consistent point scorer for this group, which is nothing new.

"Andy had been with the squad since he was 8 years old and has been the top point scorer in his age group for six straight years," the proud big brother said.

Kevin Chibbaro, a talented freestyler, has also swum well, as have Joe Smooth, Evan Kessler and Ben Bucca. And Rose is certain the recent addition of Alex Ratajczyk will bolster this deep group's potential.

"Alex is a well-known high school swimmer in Middlesex County," Rose said. "We will certainly strengthen our team."

The girls 15-18 group has long been a strength at Nob Valley, and this year is no different.

With Nicole Van Avery, Ashley Chibarro and Tanya Whitlen leading the way, along with the consistently strong contributions of Maggie Lybon and Rebecca Patten, among others, the Nob Valley girls haven't lost a relay in the 13-18 races since 2005 - a string of 14 victories in a row.

"And a lot of times our girls take first and second in the relays," Rose added.

So despite a decrease in numbers, Nob Valley's swim team continues to make waves against larger teams with deeper talent pools.

Brian Rose said his team has been lucky to perform as well as it has in recent years, but luck only carries a team so far.

Talented swimmers, good coaching and a commitment to the team has Nob Valley back where they belong - among the very best teams in Middlesex County.