With the 2024 swimming season coming to a close this month, I’d like to look
back on the team’s season and accomplishments this year.
T o start the year out, Coach Peter Ninivaggi designed custom Cardinal Newman
suits for his swimmers. These suits were very high quality and the Newmanites loved
them, with senior Grant Bogdan saying that the “jammers were goated.” Their sleek and
stylish design surely contributed to the success found by our Newman swimmers.
Before the school year even started, Coach Ninivaggi led practices in the
mornings at Lake Lytal pool in order to get the team into shape. There was excellent
turnout, which gave the team an early edge over their competition going into the
season.

The first meet took place on August 30. Hosted by Forest Hill at Lake Lytal
Aquatic Center, four teams were in attendance, those being Forest Hill, Olympic
Heights, John I Leonard, and of course, your Cardinal Newman Crusaders. On the
boys’ side, Cardinal Newman swept, winning more points than all three opposing teams.
On the girls’ side, Cardinal Newman beat John I Leonard and only lost to Olympic
Heights by two points. However, across the board there were some great swims, such
as Amanda Lenz and Jaiden Wandtke placing first and second respectively in the girls
50 freestyle, Sawyer Lanfilisi King placing first in the 500 freestyle, and Samuel
Almázan placing first in both the 100 butterfly and the 50 freestyle. This meet was a
great way to start off the season.

The next meet took place on September 6 and was also hosted by Forest Hill at
Lake Lytal. This time, six teams were in attendance, with Seminole Ridge, Somersett
Canyons, John I Leonard, Oxbridge, Forest Hill, and Cardinal Newman making
appearances at the meet. The Newman boys came in second place, only losing to
Oxbridge, and the Newman girls beat John I Leonard and Somersett Canyons. At this
meet, there were some good time improvements for the Newman swimmers.
Unfortunately, the next couple weeks were plagued with severe weather,
including a hurricane. This led to reduced numbers of practices, but despite the setback
the Newmanites pushed forward. At the next six team meet, the Newman boys beat
three teams and even managed to tie Palm Beach Central, a team which in years past
has beat Newman by a wide margin. The girls continued their winning streak against
John I Leonard as well.

The next meet was the swimmers’ senior night. There were eight seniors on the
team this year, those being Amanda Lenz, Francesca Marino, Britney Rivera, Jaiden
Wandtke, Samuel Almázan, Grant Bogdan, Dillon Schneider, and Andrés Valdivieso.
For the celebrations, each senior ran through a human tunnel while Coach Ninivaggi
read out their favorite memories from being on the team. Afterwards, the entire team
swam a great meet and set some new personal bests. As the regular season closed,
the boys ended with a record of 12-2-1 and the girls ended with a record of 5-10. There
was a historic turnout, with 22 swimmers in total, which is the most that the team has
had in more than 15 years. This was due to Coach Ninivaggi’s excellent leadership and
drive to help the team grow, not only as swimmers but as people as well.

After senior night, there was a two week period dedicated to hard practices
before the district championship. Hosted by John Carrol, the meet took place at Indian
River State College in Fort Pierce. The entire team rode down on a bus in order to swim
against a large variety of schools. This meet was marked by a variety of incredible
swims by the Newmanites, with six swimmers even making it to the regional
championships in Orlando. Samuel Almázan made it for his 100 butterfly, 500 freestyle,
and as a member of the 200 freestyle relay, alongside Grant Bogdan, Dillon Schneider,
and Andrés Valdivieso. George Barry, Sawyer Lanfilisi King, Dillon Schneider, and
Andrés Valdivieso also made it for their 400 freestyle relay.

At regionals, the Newman swimmers broke two Ninivaggi era records. The first
record was a 1:43.03 200 freestyle relay time, which shaved more than four seconds off
the previous time. The second record was a 3:53.44 400 freestyle relay time, which was
more than seven seconds faster than the previous best.

Overall, this year was an excellent season for the Cardinal Newman swimming
team. Although eight strong senior swimmers are leaving this year, many of the juniors,
sophomores, and freshmen are already great athletes who will only continue to improve.
Under Coach Ninivaggi’s guidance, the Newman swim team will continue to grow
stronger and will continue to win more and more