Record-Journal
10-16-2007, 01:35 AM
CHESHIRE — The Cheshire girls swimming and diving team held the mother of all pool parties Monday night.
Before a packed house at Cheshire Community Pool that included alumni from as far away as Louisiana and as far back as 1988, the Rams set a national record for consecutive dual-meet victories.
Historic win No. 235 came against Branford, the same victim the streak started with in 1986.
“It’s really hard to describe,” Cheshire coach Ed Aston said of setting high school swimming’s new high-water mark.
“We did it. I’m just so happy to see all this for our girls. The outpouring was just incredible. We’ve never had anything like this before. I think in whatever profession you want to get into, you want to be able to accomplish something big. The record may be broken but, for right now, it’s a really big moment.”
Cheshire eclipsed Elkhart (Ind.) Central’s record of 234 in a row with Monday’s 112-66 win over Branford. The Rams finished first in every event but the 100-yard butterfly to improve to 9-0 overall. Sophomore All-American Kim Jerome was a double winner, taking the 500-yard freestyle in 5:10.18 and the 100 breaststroke in 1:06.17.
Neither Branford nor the record ever had a chance Monday night as “The Bubble” was buzzing. Before the meet even began, the Super Fans, a group of Rams fathers dressed up in puffy sumo wrestler costumes and Blues Brothers outfits, whipped the crowd into a frenzy with raucous cheers.
In what Aston called the most emotional part of the night, each Cheshire team member was accompanied by an alumna upon exiting the locker room.
“I just thought that was an unbelievable moment,” Aston said. “Just to see the crowd and their schoolmates and everybody cheer them on like this, it’s just an unbelievable accomplishment.”
Carolyn Bowman, a former All-American at Cheshire who still holds the school record in the breaststroke, said there has been one constant during the 235 wins.
“Ed Aston,” said Bowman, a 2002 Cheshire graduate who went on to swim at Boston College. “You have to give a lot of credit to him. There’s so much pride in the team. You know when you join the team there are certain things that are necessary. It’s hard work and it’s determination. You put in the hours and you get results. That’s one of Ed’s philosophies: Don’t waste his time and don’t waste your time.
“In my four years, we didn’t talk about the streak,” Bowman continued. “It wasn’t about the streak. No one knew it would get to this point. This is sort of the wonderful ending to the fairy-tale story.”
Debbie Pepe Quint and Elaine Easton both attended Monday’s momentous meet. They graduated from Cheshire in 1988 and were there when the streak began.
Easton traveled from Washington D.C. to witness history.
“If anybody could do this, it would be Ed Aston,” she said. “He produces swimming dynasties. He really does. It was the hardest I ever worked in my life for anything. It was the most rigorous training, requiring the most discipline and structure. We swam, we ran, we did (exercise) bands and we did nautilus. Our hours in the pool were just a part of it.”
Like Easton, Quint credited Aston for keeping the streak going.
“It definitely has to do with our coach,” she said. “Obviously, he knows what he’s doing to get us this far. He definitely worked us. I feel a part of it. I feel like we’re a part of this lucky streak in getting them going. I’m very thrilled. I can’t tell you how glad I am that I’m here.”
The alumni were just part of an energetic crowd that cheered on every Rams’ victory. Cheshire got individual wins Monday from Karen Novak (200 freestyle), Brianna Perazella (200 individual medley), Mikki Morr (50 freestyle), Jen Thompson (diving), Jessica Metcalf (100 freestyle) and Danielle Forrest (100 backstroke).
When the meet ended and Cheshire’s new national record was in the books, Aston and his seniors linked arms and did a celebratory cannonball into the pool. After exiting the pool, Aston joked that his team members “learned I can’t swim.”
But the evening did have a serous side. Aston remembered bringing his team to a town-wide memorial service for the Petit family. Jennifer Hawke Petit and daughters Hayley Petit and Michaela Petit were killed July 23 in a home invasion at their Cheshire residence. Dr. William Petit was badly beaten.
“As a group, we went in together (at the memorial),” Aston recalled. “We sat together. I wanted them to see what this was all about — to understand it and to understand that you can’t take anything for granted. It could have happened to any one of us on this team. When Dr. Petit said he didn’t want Cheshire to be known as the town of the home invasion, these girls wanted to say, ‘We’ve got something that can change that.’ They really embraced it. They wanted to do it. This was their thing and their moment for it. We think now Cheshire has something else to be known for and that’s what they wanted.”
The Rams hope to make a national splash with the record. On Friday, Cheshire was No. 10 on ESPN SportCenter’s Top 10 plays after tying Elkhart with a victory over Hamden.
This morning, Aston and captains Morr, Forrest, Jessica Bauer and Amy Hudak will appear live on ESPN’s First Take.
“Originally, they were only going to have one captain go,” Morr said. “Ed said, ‘I can’t just bring one captain,’ so they said, ‘Bring them all.’ We’re so excited.
“The home invasion was on the cover of ‘People Magazine,’” Morr added. “It was just horrible. We’re going on ESPN. Hopefully, we can make people see the town in a better light.”
<a href="http://www.mysunforums.com/content/RJ/content/myrj/video/cheswim.wmv" onClick=urchinTracker ('Video: National record means Cheshire girls rule the pool');"><img border="0" src="http://images.zwire.com/local/Z/ZWIRE2755/zwire/images/watchvideo.gif"></a>
Before a packed house at Cheshire Community Pool that included alumni from as far away as Louisiana and as far back as 1988, the Rams set a national record for consecutive dual-meet victories.
Historic win No. 235 came against Branford, the same victim the streak started with in 1986.
“It’s really hard to describe,” Cheshire coach Ed Aston said of setting high school swimming’s new high-water mark.
“We did it. I’m just so happy to see all this for our girls. The outpouring was just incredible. We’ve never had anything like this before. I think in whatever profession you want to get into, you want to be able to accomplish something big. The record may be broken but, for right now, it’s a really big moment.”
Cheshire eclipsed Elkhart (Ind.) Central’s record of 234 in a row with Monday’s 112-66 win over Branford. The Rams finished first in every event but the 100-yard butterfly to improve to 9-0 overall. Sophomore All-American Kim Jerome was a double winner, taking the 500-yard freestyle in 5:10.18 and the 100 breaststroke in 1:06.17.
Neither Branford nor the record ever had a chance Monday night as “The Bubble” was buzzing. Before the meet even began, the Super Fans, a group of Rams fathers dressed up in puffy sumo wrestler costumes and Blues Brothers outfits, whipped the crowd into a frenzy with raucous cheers.
In what Aston called the most emotional part of the night, each Cheshire team member was accompanied by an alumna upon exiting the locker room.
“I just thought that was an unbelievable moment,” Aston said. “Just to see the crowd and their schoolmates and everybody cheer them on like this, it’s just an unbelievable accomplishment.”
Carolyn Bowman, a former All-American at Cheshire who still holds the school record in the breaststroke, said there has been one constant during the 235 wins.
“Ed Aston,” said Bowman, a 2002 Cheshire graduate who went on to swim at Boston College. “You have to give a lot of credit to him. There’s so much pride in the team. You know when you join the team there are certain things that are necessary. It’s hard work and it’s determination. You put in the hours and you get results. That’s one of Ed’s philosophies: Don’t waste his time and don’t waste your time.
“In my four years, we didn’t talk about the streak,” Bowman continued. “It wasn’t about the streak. No one knew it would get to this point. This is sort of the wonderful ending to the fairy-tale story.”
Debbie Pepe Quint and Elaine Easton both attended Monday’s momentous meet. They graduated from Cheshire in 1988 and were there when the streak began.
Easton traveled from Washington D.C. to witness history.
“If anybody could do this, it would be Ed Aston,” she said. “He produces swimming dynasties. He really does. It was the hardest I ever worked in my life for anything. It was the most rigorous training, requiring the most discipline and structure. We swam, we ran, we did (exercise) bands and we did nautilus. Our hours in the pool were just a part of it.”
Like Easton, Quint credited Aston for keeping the streak going.
“It definitely has to do with our coach,” she said. “Obviously, he knows what he’s doing to get us this far. He definitely worked us. I feel a part of it. I feel like we’re a part of this lucky streak in getting them going. I’m very thrilled. I can’t tell you how glad I am that I’m here.”
The alumni were just part of an energetic crowd that cheered on every Rams’ victory. Cheshire got individual wins Monday from Karen Novak (200 freestyle), Brianna Perazella (200 individual medley), Mikki Morr (50 freestyle), Jen Thompson (diving), Jessica Metcalf (100 freestyle) and Danielle Forrest (100 backstroke).
When the meet ended and Cheshire’s new national record was in the books, Aston and his seniors linked arms and did a celebratory cannonball into the pool. After exiting the pool, Aston joked that his team members “learned I can’t swim.”
But the evening did have a serous side. Aston remembered bringing his team to a town-wide memorial service for the Petit family. Jennifer Hawke Petit and daughters Hayley Petit and Michaela Petit were killed July 23 in a home invasion at their Cheshire residence. Dr. William Petit was badly beaten.
“As a group, we went in together (at the memorial),” Aston recalled. “We sat together. I wanted them to see what this was all about — to understand it and to understand that you can’t take anything for granted. It could have happened to any one of us on this team. When Dr. Petit said he didn’t want Cheshire to be known as the town of the home invasion, these girls wanted to say, ‘We’ve got something that can change that.’ They really embraced it. They wanted to do it. This was their thing and their moment for it. We think now Cheshire has something else to be known for and that’s what they wanted.”
The Rams hope to make a national splash with the record. On Friday, Cheshire was No. 10 on ESPN SportCenter’s Top 10 plays after tying Elkhart with a victory over Hamden.
This morning, Aston and captains Morr, Forrest, Jessica Bauer and Amy Hudak will appear live on ESPN’s First Take.
“Originally, they were only going to have one captain go,” Morr said. “Ed said, ‘I can’t just bring one captain,’ so they said, ‘Bring them all.’ We’re so excited.
“The home invasion was on the cover of ‘People Magazine,’” Morr added. “It was just horrible. We’re going on ESPN. Hopefully, we can make people see the town in a better light.”
<a href="http://www.mysunforums.com/content/RJ/content/myrj/video/cheswim.wmv" onClick=urchinTracker ('Video: National record means Cheshire girls rule the pool');"><img border="0" src="http://images.zwire.com/local/Z/ZWIRE2755/zwire/images/watchvideo.gif"></a>