Just Keep Swimming… to College
Berkeley Swim and Dive says goodbye to 11 seniors.
October 20, 2016
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GIRL POWER: The girl captains show off their senior status. Pictured above is Amanda Dumar ’17, Sydney Corey ’17, Kerry Horan ’17 and Arielle Bader ’17 (from left).
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SWIMMING AND DIVING: Although they don’t practice together, some of the senior boys still hang out at swim meets. Pictured above is Nathan Stovern ’17, Jesse Potts ’17 and Robert Cecil ’17 (from left).
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CHEER SQUAD: Some of the girls swimming team members cheer on the people swimming before the ceremony. From left, Arielle Bader ’17, Alexa Fannon ’18, Sydney Corey ’17, Megan Maguire ’19 and Abby Forman ’19.
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PARENTS ARE PROUD: Daryl Pickerell ’17 stands with his proud parents during the ceremony.
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BITTERSWEET: Ron Prati ’17 stands with his mother during the ceremony. Both have to deal with the bittersweet fact that this has been the most fun season yet, but it is also the last.
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FLOWERING INTO YOUNG ADULTS: Charlie Tobin ’17 stands with his mother. Each swimmer is given a bouquet of Berkeley-colored flowers to celebrate their time at this school.
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TEAMMATES STAND TOGETHER: RJ Oehler ’17 stands with teammates Stovern and Cecil, who stood in place of Oehler’s parents when they couldn’t make it to the ceremony.
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JUST KEEP SWIMMING: Some of the younger swimmers decided to surprise the seniors with words of farewell, happy memories, and pieces of advice as they go to college. From left, Alexa Fannon ’18, Sabrina Vergara ’19, Nicole Stambo ’19, Sam Dolgin ’18, George Gramling ’19 and Emma Edmund ’18.
When the scoreboard is off and no other people are in the pool except for your teammates, things can get rough as you try to complete one of Coach Kevin Rosepapa’s practices. Luckily for the Berkeley Swim and Dive team, the seniors this year showed themselves as leaders and helped every swimmer and diver to enjoy the season. On the girls side, this means sleepovers and spirit buddies. On the boys side, this means post-meet shower singing and writing “K20” on chests before every competition (in honor of Rosepapa’s 20th season). On October 13th, senior swimmers were recognized on an emotional Senior Night, during a tri-meet between Clearwater Central Catholic and Tampa Catholic.
During the ceremony, each senior had a statement read aloud by Mrs. Lauren Deady, whose son is on the team. Teary-eyed parents stood by their seniors as Deady read each senior’s prepared speech. At the end of the ceremony, some of the other high school swimmers decided to surprise the seniors with their own statements.
Alexa Fannon ‘18 and Sabrina Vergara ‘19 described their experiences with the girls’ swim captains, and Nicole Stambo ‘19 described her experiences with her “twin”, diver Amanda Dumar ‘17. Sam Dolgin ‘18 and George Gramling ‘19 shared their favorite memories of the boys’ swim team. The memories ended with a laugh: one student told them they could survive college since they had survived Rosepapa’s practices.
“I’ve had such a great year with the current seniors and I’ll miss them a lot, but I wish them luck!” said Megan Maguire ‘19. “I have made so many amazing memories with them and it’s been an amazing season,” Lindsey Marian ‘18 said, “It was great to see the seniors being celebrated for their years of hard work and dedication to the swim team. They have been awesome captains this year, leading the team to success, and I don’t know what I’ll do without them next year.”
This year’s seniors have set the bar high for next year’s seniors, and they will go down in the swim and dive books as unforgettable.
