Date: Fri 27-Oct-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: KIMH

Illustration: I

Quick Words:

Freshman-Swimmers-Feature

Full Text:

Freshman Swimmers Feature

B Y K IM J. H ARMON

There is a sense of optimism, optimism for the future that floats around the

Newtown High School pool deck and mixes in with the thick, cloying smell of

chlorine and the Roman bath humidity.

There is the new coach, Joanne Johnson, who brings some youthful enthusiasm

and a history of All-American success to the job.

And then there are the divers, a cadre of young plungers who are, perhaps, a

double axle away from being the most dominant diving unit in the South-West

Conference. But a lot of the optimism is there, clouding the pool deck and

infusing the place with newfound electricity and excitement, because of four

freshman swimmers.

Jamie Ryan.

Jessica Carino.

Sarah Brodbeck.

Stephanie Nickse.

All four have come out of the Newtown FAST (Fairfield Area Swim Team) program.

One has been at it longer than the rest and two are virtually brand new to

competitive swimming, but all four have the potential of becoming the central

core to a very strong South-West Conference team.

" I really didn't know what to expect from them, " said coach Johnson, "

because I didn't know what there was out in the league. I knew they were good,

but I didn't know how competitive they would be. I was excited and even though

people told me Newtown swimming hasn't been good, I knew I had something in

the pool. "

Jamie Ryan

Jamie Ryan didn't wait very long to make an impact.

Just five meets, actually. In a 104-71 win over Brookfield, Ryan, 14, the

daughter of Jim and Karen Ryan, broke the pool record in the 100-yard

breaststroke with a time 1:12.16.

And she is close to others. Jamie, who began swimming when she was five years

old in Vermont, is seven seconds off the 200-yard individual medley record,

three seconds off the 100-yard freestyle record, and less than 30 seconds off

the 500-yard freestyle record.

" I was kind of expecting to do as well as I did with FAST, " she said, " but

not as well as this. "

About the breaststroke record, she said, " I was hoping to get it. I had to

drop to get that time and I worked really hard to do it. "

Coach Johnson likes imagining what the team will be like when Jamie is a

junior or a senior.

" I think Jamie, " coach Johnson said, " by the time she is a junior, will be

right there at the top. I can see her going all the way through State Opens

and I think she is the kind of swimmer that can get a scholarship. "

Jessica Carino

Versatility seems to be the word to describe Jessica, 14, the daughter of Dave

and Lynne Carino.

She has done the individual medley, the 100-yard butterfly, and the 500-yard

freestyle and owns some of the team's top times in those events - especially

her event, the 100 fly, where she is six seconds off the school record set by

Cathy Carney.

" I didn't expect to do this well or my times to drop so much, " she admitted.

Jessica only started swimming four years ago with FAST.

" I had been taking swim lessons for a long time, " she added, " but I got to

the point where I wanted to swim competitively. "

And competitive she has been. While no one on the team comes close to her in

the 100-yard fly, she is strong in the 500-yard free (5:49.00 her personal

best and within sight of the record) and owns the third-best team time in the

200-yard individual medley (just 11 seconds off the school record).

She loves swimming and has made a lot of new friends, but the wave hasn't even

crested for Jessica Carino.

Sarah Brodbeck

Sarah Brodbeck, 14, daughter of Howard and Cheryl Brodbeck, came into her

first season thinking she was a backstroker.

Coach Johnson thought otherwise, and now Sarah has become the top sprinter on

the team and one of the promising young sprinter's in the South-West

Conference. " I definitely saw the freestyle ability, " coach Johnson said, "

but I had no idea she could swim backstroke until she begged me to swim it one

meet. Once I saw Sarah in it, she blew out everyone else's time. "

Sarah only started swimming four years ago, the last two with FAST. The

Brodbeck family had been living in California and since everyone seemed to be

on a swim team, it was only natural for her to join one.

Sarah, whose brother Ross swims with the boys' team, became an accomplished

backstroker but early on was turned into a freestylist.

" I usually don't swim the freestyle, " she said, " but I was hoping to become

a big part of the team. "

She is a big enough part that her personal best (26.89) in the 50 free is less

than two seconds off the school record.

Stephanie Nickse

Swimming started as a backyard thing for Stephanie Nickse, 13, the daughter of

Jeffrey and Judith Nickse, and now it's become something much more.

Stephanie started swimming with FAST less than three years ago and in that

time has developed into a strong freestylist (less than 10 seconds off the

pool record in the 200 free), butterflyer (only nine seconds off the school

record), and individual medalist.

" FAST was a lot of individual stuff, " Stephanie said, " but here, with my

sister on the team, it sounded like fun to me. I came out and watched the

meets and I knew it would be competitive for me. "

While she wavers a bit in the wake of her three counterparts, just seconds off

their pace, Stephanie nevertheless offers a lot of versatility to a coach

going through the chore of making out the lineup.

But with these four freshman at her disposal, making out the lineup is a

pleasant chore for coach Johnson.

" I can't give them all the credit, " she admitted, " because we have a lot of

kids who have done some good things for us, but they certainly add excitement

to the team and without them we certainly wouldn't have won as much. "