By Emily Scott
Business and Op-Ed Editor
The Neshaminy swim team had an exciting meet against Abington High school on Jan. 9. Both the boys’ and girls’ team had outstanding efforts. The boys had a tremendous victory over Abington, 110 to 60. Captain and Senior Steve Keashon, led the first win of the meet in the men’s’ 200 relay. Abington began to catch up in breaststroke, but Sophomore Dave Kneiss ended it strong with freestyle giving Neshaminy first place. In the men’s 200 freestyle, Keashon brought the boy’s a second win, with an excellent time of 1:51.
In the 500 free boys, Keashon once again brought the boy’s team an unstoppable win. With a time of 5 minutes, he beat second place by 33 seconds. Keashon says staying focused has helped him bring in such remarkable times. “Everything around me becomes white noise. I tune anything surround me out and I just think ‘I have to do this’. It’s only one lane to me in that moment and nothing else matters,” Keashon said.
Kneiss also played a key role in the boy’s win. In the 100 freestyle, Kneiss put in a hard effort and came out strong with first place. Freestyle, being Kneiss’ best stroke, he also helped close the time in the 100 freestyle relay with a time of 3 min. 32 sec. “Having such great role models from the upperclassmen really has helped me improve,” Kneiss said of his success.
The girl’s team had worked to improve their times, yet Abington girl’s won 96-72. “The girls gave it their all and we’re so proud,” Captain’s Emily Shirkness and Meg Walton said. In the girl’s 200 freestyle relay, it was a close race but the team came in strong. Relay participants included juniors Lizzy Miller, Helen Shekhterman seniors Danielle Bizup and Rebecca Rodriguez. Miller started the relay strong against Abington’s key swimmers. Rodriguez closed the relay off with her sprint skill in the freestyle.
“I think both teams swam strong. We are in the center of our high volume training. Everyone is sore and tired. A lot of them had their best time today which is really promising for post season,” Coach Dana Puskas said. For the boys it was a great win and an important effort for the girls. Neshaminy swimming can only go up from here.
