In recent years the Milton swim team has been weakened by the loss of several strong swimmers to graduation, but that has never taken away from the core values of the swim team—hard work and strong team spirit. Coming off a 2007–2008 season—where the boys' and girls' squads finished 2-7-1 and 2-8-1, respectively—this year's team looks to improve their record while maintaining the core values that define our team.
Only a few weeks into the season, several swimmers have dramatically improved their times from last year, and a new group of highly committed and dedicated swimmers have added to the depth on both the boys' and girls' teams.
Leading the boys' team this season is senior captain Anthony DeVito (mid-distance free), along with returning swimmers Chris Fan ’09 (IM, back, breast), Derek Cheah ’10 (breast, short-distance free), Kunal Jasty ’11 (IM, back) and Michael Char ‘11 (short-, mid-distance free). New additions to the team, such as Danny Lamere ’11 (short-distance free, back), Pun Saropala ’11 (short-distance free), Edward Han ’12 (short-distance free, breast) and Sid Raju ’12 (back), will provide the foundations of the boys' team for years to come.
On the girls' side, new swimmers Sonia Manssen ’11 (mid-distance free, back) and Erin Yang ’12 (IM, fly) have already made their mark with several strong performances and key wins. They are accompanied by returning swimmers Kelsey Creegan ’09 (captain; mid-distance free), Kristen Sparagna ’09 (IM, short-, mid-distance free), Josette LaRochelle ’11 (short-distance free, back) and Lauren Cheng ’11 (short-distance free). Other new swimmers, including Grace McDonough ’10 (short-distance free, back), Lillie LaRochelle ’12 (breast) and Shauna Yuan ’12 (breast), have had a positive impact on the team with their hard work and strong swims. With such a dedicated and motivated group of swimmers, the team is looking forward to the second half of the season with a hunger for success—not just point-wise but, more importantly, time-wise. All swimmers on the team have already broken their personal bests in their events on multiple occasions, and the team looks to keep this trend going as the championship period approaches.
In his seventeenth year as the head coach of the Mustangs, Bob Tyler has seen the program grow from its humble beginnings when most swimmers arrived with little competitive experience to the present day where serious top-ranked New England swimmers come to train. Besides coaching at Milton, in the summer Bob is one of the assistant directors at the Technique Swim Camp at Harvard. Previous coaching work includes assisting with the Northeastern University Swim team, Bernals’ Gator Swim Club and Avon Old Farms School varsity swim team.
Coach Jamie LaRochelle is in his nineth year as the head coach of the Mustang swim program. He has coached for 20 years at both the high school and club level. Previous coaching experience includes Strake Jesuit High School varsity swim team, (Texas State champions in 1991), South West Aquatics in Houston, and Avon Old Farms School varsity swim team.
