BELCHERTOWN — From the very beginning of Thursday’s dual swim meet between Belchertown and Northampton, it was clear to everyone in attendance that it was going to be an entertaining one.
In just the second event of the afternoon, the 200-yard freestyle, Northampton’s Josephine Hopkins and Belchertown’s Valerie Williams swam with each other stroke for stroke, with both teams on the sideline cheering loudly for their respective teammate. At the very end of the race, Hopkins managed to stretch out and not only out-touch Williams to earn the win, but also qualify for Western Mass. with a time of 2:10.40 (just under two-tenths of a second ahead of Williams’ 2:10.59)
“I’d say that my most impressed swim was…the girls’ 200 freestyle. Josephine Hopkins qualified for her first Western/Central Mass. cut time,” Northampton head coach Jacob Wingfield said. “It was a really close race, I actually didn’t know who won or lost, but I didn’t care because (she got) such a good time, and getting a cut time for the first time is so important. I like to see the kids reach milestones that they want to reach.”
It was a strong day for both teams as the local rivals split the meet – the Belchertown boys walked away with a dominant win 106-60, while the Northampton girls managed to earn a win with a final score of 88-79. It was a back-and-forth event on the girls’ side – the Blue Devils earned six first-place finishes while the Orioles touched the wall first five times. Two of Belchertown’s first-place spots came from their relay teams, with their 200 medley and 400 free relay teams. Aubrey Harrington earned two more of the Orioles individual wins, placing first in both the 100 fly and the 100 back. Northampton relied on their depth, with five different swimmers earning each of their five individual wins – Hopkins, her twin sister Sabrina Hopkins, Zoey Ames, Sydney Abild and Frankie Adams-Sternal all placed first, as well as the team’s 200-meter free relay team (the Blue Devils went 1-2 in that race).
But what was most exciting for both teams was being able to compete against each other again in person. After the COVID-19 pandemic caused last year’s season to shift to mainly timed events, with swimmers competing solo in the pool and teams discouraged from even cheering so as not to spread the virus, it’s been a stark and welcome shift back this year. Northampton’s win on the girls’ side was all the more impressive because they were missing a good portion of their team on race day due because of COVID-19.
“It’s incredible to be able to be at schools with other teams after last year. We were actually instructed not to cheer, if the yelling could dispel some saliva – in the name of safety, we were quiet…There was definitely a muted attitude that was hard to get kids excited for,” Wingfield said. “I’m glad that we were able to have anything but it’s night and day this year compared to last year.”
The Belchertown team has also noticed a difference in their team’s attitude this year.
“Their times are significantly better and more importantly, they’re happier,” Belchertown boys’ head coach Johanna Manduley said on the team’s dynamic this year.
On the boys’ side, it was a dominant showing yet again from the Orioles, who haven’t lost a meet yet this season. Belchertown won all but one of the boys’ races; Northampton’s lone victory came from a dominant performance by Jack Mattison-Gulotta in the 100 back with a time of 1:04.53. Five different individuals – Mitch Dubey, Derek Gould, Caleb Perron, Evan Harrington and Luke Giguere – all earned at least one individual win for the Orioles, as well as their 200-meter medley and 400 free relay teams; both Giguere and Harrington earned two individual wins to bump up Belchertown’s point total.