RC Swimmers Bring Back Experience, Add Depth

After graduating five seniors following its most successful season in recent history, the Rockbridge County High School boys swimming team will look to its five returning swimmers to guide promising newcomers. The RC girls will also look to their seasoned veterans to help mentor younger swimmers.

The RC boys placed fourth at the Class 3 state meet last winter, tying their best finish, last achieved 20 years earlier. From that team, which placed second in the Valley District and Region 3C meets, the Wildcats graduated Grayson Garcia, Will Gibbs, Ezra Kelland, Quinn Fountain and Chase Lowney.

Leading the returning swimmers for the RC boys senior captain Spencer Pfaff, who won the state title in the 50-yard freestyle, placed fourth in the 100-yard freestyle, and was a member of the second-place 200-yard freestyle relay team and the thirdplace 400-yard freestyle relay team.

The other returning senior is Roman Stanley, who specializes in the backstroke.

The RC boys return two junior co-captains, Keagan Black and River Jenkins. At the state meet last winter, Black placed second in the 100-yard backstroke and finished sixth in the 100-yard butterfly, swimming schoolrecord times in both races. He also teamed up with Pfaff in both relays. Jenkins specializes in breaststroke and freestyle races. Third-year RC head coach Erica Bisaillon said Black and Jenkins “bolster their team’s spirit and have the experience needed to guide their team through the season.

Also returning for the RC boys is sophomore Dmitriy Billias, who specializes in freestyle races.

On her returning swimmers, Bisaillon said, “We’re lucky this year in that in addition to new members, we have a strong contingency of experienced competitive swimmers. This allows us a deeper bench when it comes to relays and diversity of events.”

There are 10 first-year varsity swimmers for the RC boys, including five freshmen.

Excited about her young swimmers, third-year RC head coach Erica Bisaillon said, “We have a large freshman class this year, so a large goal for this year is bolstering the younger members of our team to provide a strong base moving forward. Obviously, we want to continue improving times across the board, but building a strong program hinges on developing talent early.”

Junior exchange students who have joined the team are Peeranut Chaoyong and Nikita Rogov. Sophomore Tyler Ludtke and freshman Leif Guse, who are also distance runners, have both shown promise in butterfly. Bisaillon said many of her swimmers have shown promise in breaststroke, including freshmen Jacob Barney and Ben Gresham, while freshmen Ru Bucy and Emil Hierman look strong in backstroke.

Bisaillon said the Wildcats have several new swimmers who “will explore their options and find their niche this year,” including sophomore Parker Fountain and freshman Luke Eichholz.

The RC girls graduated two seniors from last year’s team, Greta Guse and Rowan Moles. They placed fifth at the Valley District meet and ninth in the Region 3C meet.

They return their lone state qualifier last winter, senior captain Rio Bucy, who competed at the 500-yard freestyle at the state meet and is also a butterfly swimmer. Bisaillon said both of her senior captains, Pfaff and Bucy, are “motivated and build a great team culture.”

In the junior class, the RC girls return Lexi Walters, a captain who specializes in distance freestyle. Joining her is junior Alice Gresham, who swam as a freshman before taking last year off. Gresham is a breaststroke swimmer.

The rest of the RC girls in their first year as varsity swimmers. Sophomore Camille Fuentes brings previous swimming experience and will focus on freestyle and breaststroke races. Willow Moles joins the team as a senior, but she has experience on the local youth club team, the Rockbridge Storm, and will swim freestyle and backstroke races.

New swimmers for the RC girls who are looking to find their niche are sophomore Bella Wright and freshmen Liesl Niebur and Carson Slaydon. Junior exchange student Miya Bayniyazova will contribute to the team on deck while working on stroke mechanics, Bisaillon said.

Joining the Wildcats for practices and many of their meets is Parry McCluer High School’s lone swimmer, junior girl Olive King.

Last winter, King won regional titles and the 50-yard and 500-yard freestyle races. At the Class 1 and 2 state meet, King placed third in the 500-yard freestyle and fourth in the 50-yard freestyle.

“Olive has always been a strong swimmer, and really found her niche in the 500 this past year,” said Biaillon. “This upcoming season, we’re hoping to progress her 500 while diversifying her other events to find the best combination possible.”

King, who stopped playing volleyball and tennis to focus on swimming, said she wants to try more distance races and plans to focus on “broadening my events because I still don’t know what my best thing is.”

Returning to serve as Bisaillon’s assistant coach is Ellie Tomlinson. Bisaillon said Tomlinson “brings her knowledge on stroke mechanics and her experience swimming at Southern Virginia University. Last year, she hit her stride coaching with our program. She is meticulous and serious but extremely empathetic and provides the perfect balance to myself, as well as helping me maintain all of the administrative tasks that can be overwhelming for one person.”

Joining the RC coaching staff is volunteer coach Allison Gigante, a 2019 RC graduate who swam for the Wildcats with Bisaillon, a 2017 RC graduate. “Her expansive breaststroke knowledge and experience with coaching is extremely valuable,” said Bisaillon.

In the Valley District, the RC boys trailed only Turner Ashby last winter, and TA also won the girls’ title. Looking at the Wildcats’ chances in the district, Bisaillon said, “I embrace competition, but I don’t necessarily think that we need to focus on that. Obviously we’d love to win, but our goal is to have fun and do the best we can. Swimming in general is a very friendly sport, and we have great relationships with most of the teams in our area.”

The Wildcats will start their season today, Wednesday, at 6:30 p.m. when they compete against Wilson Memorial at the Waynesboro YMCA. On Saturday, they’ll travel for an invitational at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center, starting at 10:30 p.m. RC’s first home meet is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 13, at 6 p.m. against Valley District rival Broadway. The Wildcats also have a home meet scheduled for Friday, Jan. 17, at 6 p.m. against district rival Harrisonburg.