The high school swimming season is underway and a handful of local programs are back in action. Below is some more information on each of the four area swim teams for the 2024-25 campaign:
The Blue Devils girls team brings back a pair of high-caliber athletes in Amalia Guerra and Caeil Killip-Leonard to the pool this season. Guerra is the reigning MIAA Division 2 state champion in the 100-yard backstroke while Kilip-Leonard is one of the top divers in western Massachusetts.
Both seniors, Guerra and Killip-Leonard join Inez Dole and Max Hartley as Northampton’s 12th-grader team captains.
Hartley and Cole Mattison-Gulotta make up the Blue Devils’ boys roster. Cole’s older brother, Jack, took second place in the 200 freestyle and 100 butterfly during last season’s Division 2 Swimming and Diving Championships as a senior.
Peter Davis begins his second season as the Blue Devils’ head coach and will look to build upon last season’s solid foundational year.
“The program has had its ups and downs over the last few years, changing coaches and what not,” Davis told the Gazette last January. “I think giving these guys and girls some stability is gonna help us.”
The boys team won the Western/Central championship for the first time last year, as well as the Minuteman League, and they return a mix of young and experienced swimmers to this year’s team.
Belchertown’s biggest loss will be Luke Giguere, but the Orioles have three-fourths of their 400 freestyle relay team back in the fold in Ryan Gould, J.R. Zlogar and Ryan Shea.
Seniors Ben and Noah Les and sophomore Drake Dragon are other swimmers to keep an eye on this year in the pool for Belchertown. Dragon competed at last year’s West/Central championship meet, finishing in seventh place in the 500-yard freestyle.
The girls team will be led by captains Aubrey Harrington, Valerie Williams and Destiny Ranzie. The Orioles earned their first win this year after beating Palmer, 116-44, on Dec. 13.
Johanna Manduley returns as Belchertown’s girls swim head coach for her fourth season.
The Hurricanes will look to continue to improve in the pool with both the boys and girls teams. Amherst’s program is quite young, with swimmers from the seventh grade making contributions on both squads.
The girls bring back several key pieces to a Hurricanes team that placed sixth at the West/Central meet and 16th at the Division 2 state meet.
Among the top returners are Bette Sherr-Garcia, Finnley Chambers, Rowan Albertson, Sadie Cyr, and Caprial DiBartolomeo.
Seventh grader and sister to Rowan, Emory Albertson, is a newcomer to keep an eye on.
Amherst posted a 9-2 record last season during the regular season.
The boys’ roster features nine swimmers, all who graduate in 2026 or later. Joseph Hazlip is the eldest swimmer as a junior.
Hurricanes head coach Denise Leckenby is back for her third season.
“Well-rounded girls team and rebuilding year for both boys and girls with a focus on social emotional well-being and mental health as student-athletes,” Leckenby said.
Head coach Carla Soutra is back as the Eagles head coach for her 28th season.
Easthampton’s numbers have been low in recent years and much of the same is true this season as the Eagles total roster includes 11 swimmers.
However, five newcomers join the ranks this season, including three freshmen and an eighth-grader.
Layla Gauger is Easthampton’s only returning upperclassmen, while Allison St. Pierre and Lily O’Connell come back as sophomores for the Eagles.
Maxwell Kruger is Easthampton’s only competitor on the boys team as an eighth-grader.
