Dodger Boys’ Swim Team Ends Season With 6-5 Record And Sectional Semifinal Berth

A winning record and a second-round upset highlighted the 2022-23 season for the Madison High School boys’ swim team, which saw one of their most successful seasons in many years.

The Dodgers had a record of six wins and five losses. One regular season highlight for them was their win against Morristown, which was their first victory against the team in over ten years. Another highlight was in the Dodgers’ meet against Delbarton, where sophomore Jacques Chemaly broke the 100-meter freestyle team record with a time of 56.06. The previous record in the event was a 56.60 set by Zach Ruiz back in the 2018-19 season.

Coming into the North 2, Group C NJSIAA sectional tournament, the Dodgers were seeded fifth. They beat the eighth-seeded McNair handily in the first round with a score of 101-69, but then were expected to lose against fourth-seeded Bernards in the quarterfinal round. 

In that quarter final meet, the Dodgers were trailing 65-75 with two events to go. However, a 1-2-5 finish by sophomore Anuthra Abeysinghe, freshman Spencer Rosenbaum, and freshman Peter Falcone in the 100 breaststroke helped the Dodgers outscore Bernards 11-5 in one event and narrow the score to 76-80. Finally, the Dodgers went 1-3 in the 400 free relay to earn 10 points compared to Bernards’ 2, and ended up winning the meet 86-84.

Also against Bernards, the Dodgers set a new team record in the 200-yard medley relay, with senior Owen Weller, Abeysinghe, Rosenbaum, and Chemaly combining for a time of 1:44.17 to break Weller, Abeysinghe, Justin Lee, and Artha Abeysinghe’s former record time of 1:44.41 from last season.

The Dodgers’ season ended after they were eliminated by Holmdel in the sectional semi-finals. However, making the semi-finals was an accomplishment in itself, considering that the team hadn’t done so since 2019.

At the end of the season banquet, senior captain Owen Weller was given the “most valuable swimmer” award for the third year in a row. Weller was a consistent winner for the team in the 100 backstroke races, and also made major contributions on the 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays. 

Freshman Spencer Rosenbaum was named “rookie of the year” for swimming the butterfly leg on almost every single 200 medley ‘A’ relay. Finally, the “most improved” awards went to sophomore John Davidson and freshman Kaden Chou. Davidson improved nearly ten seconds in his 200 freestyle, while Chou saw a five-second improvement in his 50 freestyle and a twelve-second improvement in his 100 freestyle.

In addition, Weller and Chemaly were also named honorable mentions on the Southern II Division all-conference team.

Next season, current junior Justin Dickson and sophomore Anuthra Abeysinghe will lead the Dodger boys as captains. Congratulations to all team members on an amazing season, and best of luck to seniors Owen Weller, Jake Terry, Diego Estevez, and Evan Katz on your future endeavors!