The Belchertown boys swimming team is loaded with talent this winter. The Orioles went 7-3 in meets a year ago, and with several contributors back again this season, another successful campaign is on the horizon.
Luke Giguere headlines the group, as the senior won state championships in both the backstroke and butterfly two years ago, and was the runner-up in 2023 in the same two events. Giguere will be hungry to make up for his second-place finishes from last year, and he’s got a plethora of strong swimmers around him
Drake Dragon, Ryan Gould, and James Zlogar are all names – aside from Giguere – Belchertown head coach Johanna Manduley provided when asked about who she expects to stand out in the pool. But on top of that, Manduley anticipates those four will also lead the team and help guide the younger swimmers that don’t have as much experience. The Orioles are off to a 3-0 start on their season thus far.
“Those guys have a really good work ethic. They put their heads down and they get straight to their practices, I don’t ever have to worry about them,” Manduley said. “They’re good role models for my younger swimmers. I expect them to have really good seasons for us this year.”
With numbers across western Massachusetts declining in nearly every sport (swimming included), the Belchertown boys feel they have an advantage given the depth on the team from top to bottom.
Manduley even said she’s faced with a difficult decision each meet: deciding which four swimmers are going to participate in the relay events. Out of all problems to be had, that sounds like a good one.
“I think our depth is really good this year. I have a hard time figuring out who should be in my top relays this year, which is a great problem to have,” Manduley said. “It’s a great feeling having [a lot] of swimmers and knowing we have talent on our roster.”
Out of the 17 swimmers on this year’s roster, only three of them are seniors. Belchertown has a very young team altogether, meaning a lot of them are new to the culture of the program. Manduley wants to keep the supportive culture that has been established over the years and build it into the up and coming athletes.
That culture was first established when Michael Cowles helped start the Belchertown swim program along with Marie Spiegel back in 1987. After a couple years away from coaching, Cowles is back coaching the girls team this season while helping out with the boys as well. Cowles is like a mentor for Manduley, and now having him by her side to help coach has been enjoyable.
“He’s a wealth of knowledge, which I really appreciate,” Manduley. “I can go to him with any questions, and he will have the answers. Having him around is very helpful, and I’m happy to be coaching alongside him this year.”
On that girls team are captains Cheri Williams and Aubrey Harrington, both of whom are looking to have big individual seasons, as is Valerie Williams. That’s going to be the theme all season for the Orioles girls, as they have only seven swimmers on this year’s roster.
Belchertown is 1-1-1 on the season entering 2024. While it may be tough to win meets due to the low team numbers and lack of depth, the emphasis will be on getting as many individuals to qualify for sectionals and states.
“I’m hoping to get out of this year no different from any year, and that’s for each swimmer to improve and achieve their individual goals,” Manduley said.
A huge portion of swimmers at Belchertown actually learned the basics under Manduley when they were eight years old. Manduley was the youth coach for rec swimming, and also was the Team USA coach for some of them as they grew older.
Now, with the potential for an unforgettable successful season, everything has come full circle.
“I’ve been coaching these kids since they were eight, and to see them continue with this sport just makes me really happy,” Manduley said. “I love these kids, and I’m so proud of them. They work really hard all the time. It’s just amazing to see them grow into the swimmers and people they have.”
Belchertown already knows who its main competitors will be in western Massachusetts — Longmeadow, East Longmeadow, and Minnechaug always have close meets with the Orioles. As for the rest of the swimming scene, Manduley isn’t worried about what other teams may or may not have. The focus is going to remain internal this season.
“We always have our eyes on those three teams, because they always have really good teams,” Manduley said. “But numbers for the sport are dwindling, so I don’t even know how other teams are gonna do. We just try to focus on us and control what we can.”
The Belchertown boys return to the pool on Tuesday against against Northampton at 4 p.m. The Orioles girls take on the Blue Devils team at the same time and date at Chestnut Hill Community School.
COACH: Johanna Manduley (boys) and Mike Cowles (girls)
LEAGUE/DIVISION: Minuteman League/Division 2
LAST YEAR’S RECORD: Boys 7-3, girls 3-7
BOYS ROSTER: Luke Giguere, Derek Gould, Caleb Oerron, Ben Les, Noah Les, George Wheeler, Ryan Gould, Trent Harper, Miles McNamara, Steven Ryan, Ryan Shea, Ryan Volz-Benuit, Emmett Howard, Ben Smolinski, James Zlogar, Austin Hammond, Drake Dragon
GIRLS ROSTER: Cheri Willems, Aubrey Harrington, Valerie Williams, Lucia Hilyar, Destiny Ranzie, Sam Smolinski, Alexandre Melajka
COACH: Denise Leckenby
LEAGUE/DIVISION: Patriot League/Division 2
LAST YEAR’S RECORD: Boys 6-4, girls 8-2
BOYS ROSTER: Soren Castenson, Zack Dixon, Grant Donta-Venman, Lewin Halasz, Joe Hazlip, Sasha Izurov, Jackson
GIRLS ROSTER: Shahd Ahmed, Rowan Albertson, Finnley Chambers, Annabel Culbreth-Loomis, Sadie Cyr, Hazel Czerwonka, Caprial DiBartolomeo, Aurora Donta-Venman, Lindsay Franz, Malin Gubrium, Vivienne Henry, Evvie Hope, Charlie Hope, Maggie Hunter, Hadden Kim, Tenzin Kunsang, Jayce Lanzafame, Alexis Selig, Bette Sherr-Garcia, Julia Sitze, Cynthia Tian, Sophie Ziomek
OUTLOOK: For the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic, diving is back at Amherst, with standouts Annabel Culbreth Loomis and Bette Sherr-Garcia leading the charge on that front. The Hurricanes girls team had an impressive 8-2 season last year, and they’ve got some young talent looking to take the places of a handful of powerhouse seniors who graduated.
Sadie Cyr comes over from Hopkins and has decided to return to the pool after playing basketball the past couple years. Cyr is a talented swimmer and will help hold the team steady alongside the sophomore class of Rowan Albertson, Finnley Chambers, Cynthia Tian, and Caprial DiBartolomeo. The girls team is 3-1 so far this winter.
Helping out head coach Denise Leckenby are assistant coaches Keith McFarland and Jane Denenberg. McFarland was the Amherst head coach in the early 2000s, and Denenberg graduated from UMass last spring and was a member of the swim team. Leckenby’s goals for this season are more mental than physical.
“We’ll see about accomplishments, but I’m excited about the season as it changes and grows,” she said. “We’re working on mental health, anxiety, and depression issues. And while we are excited to swim fast, work hard, and accomplish a great deal competitively, we are most interested in guiding the team towards the elements that high school sports gives us in the way of mental health, social connectedness, and an opportunity to work hard.”
She also noted that the boys team is going to need some time to see how things unfold as they have only seven swimmers currently on the roster. The boys team is 2-2 on the season.
COACH: Peter Davis (swimming) and Sean Andrews (diving)
LEAGUE/DIVISION: Patriot League/Division 2
LAST YEAR’S RECORD: Boys 6-5, girls 7-3
BOYS ROSTER: Theodore Bayne, Gus Fallon, Cole Mattison-Gulotta, Jack Mattison-Gulotta, Reed Mitchell, Tyler Palm
GIRLS ROSTER: Jayda Alejandro, Annika Bergstreiser, Amalia Guerra, Hazelle Hawkins, Caeil Killip-Leonard, Saumya Kulp, Elise Marks, Juliet Mitchell, Willa O’Donnell, Ruth Pollin-Gay, Ursula Von Goeler, Olivia Wright
OUTLOOK: The Blue Devils’ boys team has only six athletes on their roster, and five of them are seniors. They will be led by Jack Mattison-Gulotta and Tyler Palm, both seniors who have their eyes set on the MIAA state meet. Palm is a very good diver and didn’t take long to qualify for the postseason, as he’s already done so this year.
One reason Palm has had so much success diving is because of first-year coach Sean Andrews. Andrews was a successful NCAA diver at Springfield College, and he’s brought his knowledge and skillset to Northampton to help Palm and Ursula Von Goeler, a diver on the girls team. Von Goeler also qualified for the postseason early this season.
Mattison-Gulotta and Amalia Guerra, a sophomore, are locking in on Northampton program records, which, according to head coach Peter Davis “features some of the best swimmers in Massachusetts state history of years past.”
In the past, the Blue Devils program has been one of the best in western Massachusetts. Davis and Andrews are determined to flip the script and remodel those winning years after a few down seasons.
“We are striving to bring the storied NHS Swimming and Diving program back to prominence after some instability in recent years,” Davis said.
COACH: Carla Soutra
LEAGUE/DIVISION: Patriot League/Division 2
LAST YEAR’S RECORD: Boys 0-10, Girls 1-8-1
BOYS ROSTER: Tyler Hetu, Max Kreuger
GIRLS ROSTER: Allie St.Pierre, Addison Sigda, Hazel Chute, Layla Gauger, Lexi Gauger, Lily O’Connell, Erin Teague
OUTLOOK: The Eagles scraped just enough together on the girls side to perhaps be competitive against other teams who are struggling with numbers as well in what is head coach Carla Soutra’s 25th season. Easthampton will be led by its three returning swimmers in freshman Allie St. Pierre, junior Layla Gauger, and the team’s lone senior, Erin Teague.
Teague is fresh off an impressive season with the Eagles volleyball team, and now turns her talents into the pool looking to be the main leader on a team full of underclassmen and new swimmers. Hazel Chute and Lexi Gauger are both in seventh grade, Lily O’Connell is a freshman, and Layla Gauger is a junior – each of them competing at the varsity level for the first time in their careers.
It’ll be tough to stay in meets against teams with plenty of depth, but it should be a fun year for the girls considering they have plenty of room to grow with only one senior on the roster.
As for the boys, it’ll be just two participants in the 2023-2024 campaign. Tyler Hetu, one of the best gymnasts in western Mass., comes from Hampshire Regional to dive for the Eagles. Aside from him, seventh grader Max Kreuger is the only other athlete listed on the roster.
