WMS swim team finishes strong in dual meet

By Matt Pascarella

As the Windham Middle School winter II swimming season draws to a close, the team competed in their final dual meet of the season against Portland and Westbrook at Saint Joseph’s College on Wednesday, March 25. Windham gave 100 percent and the WMS girls crushed Westbrook, 59-13, but fell to Portland, 62-29. The WMS boys beat Westbrook, 40-35, but also fell to Portland, 70-28.

Windham eighth grader Samantha Scharf swims the butterfly
in a dual swim meet against Portland and Westbrook at
Saint Joseph's College on Wednesday, March 25.
PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA

“I want them to learn as much as they possibly can, but in the end, I care more about the humans that they are and the people that they’re becoming, more than what they’re doing in the water,” said WMS swim coach Anne Fougere. “Our goal is to always have the best possible sportsmanship we can have and be the best humans as well. We’ve seen a lot of time drops and swimmers from day one until now, swimmers start in events that they never thought they could do or be possible for them. We just need to make sure we’re dialed in on the small stuff and make sure that they’re finishing the way they’re supposed to and they’re (focused on) swimming fast and working hard.”

GIRLS

In the 100-yard Individual medley, eighth grader Samantha Scharf finished first with a 1:13.43-minute time. Not far behind her in the same race was sixth grader Danielle Johnson who finished second with a 1:27.80 time.

Scharf finished first in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:08.21.

“My goal was to have a good attitude and make sure the other kids felt like they were seen (and) getting cheered for ... to get a best time,” said Scharf. “And for my team to have a really good time. We’ve seen improvement in the pool and out of the pool, the attitudes toward the other swimmers, and how they’ve grown and made more friends. We dropped a lot of time as a team and we’ve done a lot better in the pool.”

In the 100 backstroke, seventh grader Madelyn Royer finished fourth with a 1:53.60 time, a personal record for her.

Johnson finished second in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:40.01.

Quinn Chapin, an eighth grader, finished first in the 50 butterfly with a 36.54-second time.

“Everyone has made improvements (during this season), just having fun,” said Royer. “Communication (needs work); having that mindset of bringing someone up – what can I do for someone else to improve their experience.”

BOYS

Byron Dansereau, a seventh grader, finished first in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:22.47. He also finished third in the 50 butterfly with a time of 37.75.

Eighth grader Darius Bean finished second in the 100 freestyle with a 1:12.12 time, a personal record. He finished second in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:23.68.

“At the beginning of the year, everyone was shy,” said Bean. “As the season has gone on, they got more confident and better in the pool. A lot of people dropped a lot of seconds.”

Colin Miller, an eighth grader, finished second in the 50 breaststroke with a 46.54 time. In the same race, sixth grader Clayton Chastain finished third with a time of 54.29.

Sixth grader Thanos Sotiropoulos finished third in the 100 breaststroke with a 1:54.90 time.

“I think the teams were excited to be cheering on their friends,” said Fougere. “We have a lot of kids who are friends with kids from other teams, so we were able to cheer on them as well. And we had a lot of best times today which was great for Windham.”<