Swim and Dive Teams

The pride of Raccoon Valley are the Masked Bandits – our kids Swim & Dive teams. Both are open to RVSC members up to age 18, and both offer great competition, great traditions, and great fun. For more information on each, including how to join, please see the About the Swim Team and About the Dive Team pages, or explore the links at left. Catch Us If You Can!

Here's the latest team news and information:

It was a memorable, exciting, and emotional day at Raccoon Valley as the Masked Bandits took on the Ramblewood Tiger Sharks in the final dual meet of the season. The Bandits prevailed 313-244, earning them their second straight third-place finish in the SSA Olympic Division. Alex Titus won four individual events, while Nediva Levine, Colin McKenzie, Sean Minderlein, Rebecca Postoll, Dylan Regan, and Hannah Reilly each won three. In one of the best races you'll ever see, Brian Reilly was touched out by his Tiger Sharks opponent by a tenth of a second in the Boys 13-14 50m Backstroke, and both of them set their respective team records in the event! (Given that RVSC and Ramblewood have each been competing for about 40 years in the SSA, that's really something special.) The 15-18 Boys broke their own Free Relay record, too. Along the way, Raccoon Valley said farewell to twelve great graduating seniors, whose spirit and sense of humor are going to be missed: Kevin Atkins, Katie Bennett, Bethany Conaway, Rebecca DeSimone, Corey Hardesty, Erin Kain, Lizzie Lange, Doug Malloy, Tori McKelligett, Ricky Stetson, Lindsey Straga, and Demi Trace. Next up is Championships Weekend, followed by the team banquet on Wednesday, August 5th.

Six points! That's how close Raccoon Valley was from a third-place trophy at the 2009 Peach Bowl, just finishing behind longtime powerhouse Greenwood Park in our best finish ever. Eleven Bandits became Gloucester County champions: Brian Reilly and Sean Minderlein in the I.M.; Emily Jones and Dylan Regan in the Freestyle; Alex Titus, Hannah Reilly, and Kelsey Sorensen in the Backstroke; Kyra Schwerzler and Julia Kotyla in the Breaststroke, and Sydney Jaramillo and Shane Tubb in the Butterfly. Along the way the Bandits broke six team records: Dylan and Kelsey in their individual wins, Sean in the Backstroke leg of his Medley Relay, plus both 15-18 Boys relays and the 15-18 Girls Freestyle Relay. Great job, everyone!

It was a busy week for the Masked Bandits. On Wednesday, RVSC took a trip to defending league champion Larchmont and, let's be honest, got thumped pretty soundly by arguably the best team in South Jersey. (If any of the Tri-County League teams want to argue that point, how about inviting the Barracudas to the so-called "Burlington County Championship" meet one of these years and see how they stack up?) Then on Saturday, the Gloucester Stingrays visited Raccoon Valley for a "friendly" meet that was a lot of fun from start to finish. The Stingrays have a very small team but very enthusiastic and friendly, and many Bandits who don't often get a chance to swim in the top heats had a chance to earn some placement ribbons. Afterwards we held our Parent-Alumni Relays that brought a lot of familiar faces back to RVSC for the morning!

Four different swimmers earned five blue ribbons apiece in the Masked Bandits' 358-206 victory over Chartwell today. Dylan Regan (9-10 Boys), Ali Bennett (13-14 Girls), Brian Reilly (13-14 Boys), and Sean Minderlein (15-18 Boys) all won five times as the Bandits improved their 2009 Suburban League record to 2-1. It'll be a short practice week for RVSC because our next meet is Wednesday night at defending champion Larchmont, followed by a 'friendly' against Gloucester at home on Saturday.

For the first time since roughly the Pleistocene Era, Raccoon Valley and Vineland staged a swim meet and it didn't rain. The Bandits took advantage of a rare night match at RVSC to post some fantastic time drops in keeping close to the perennial Suburban League powers, falling by a score of 326-239. Along the way, the Bandits set three new team marks: the 15-18 Boys (Corey Hardesty, Sean Minderlein, John Straguzzi and Shane Tubb) broke both of their own relay records, and Sean set an individual one as well by winning the Boys 15-18 50m Backstroke in a time of 30.43. The Bandits plan to celebrate tomorrow morning by playing water polo at practice; that ought to leave them enough time to heal before our next meet: Chartwell, next Saturday in Marlton.

It was close...actually it was real close...okay, it was you-cannot-be-serious, how-many-bang-bang-finishes-can-two-teams-fit-into-one-swim-meet close, but in the end, the Masked Bandits earned their first win of the season, by a score of 290-275 over the BCC Aqua Barons. The decisive race was the 13-14 Boys Free Relay, in which Christian White, Mark Welsh, Alessio Mario, and quintuple winner Brian Reilly turned in an eye-popping time drop to just barely touch out their Baron counterparts and seal the win. Next up: a visit from the Vineland Dolphins on Wednesday night.

The weather around here has been more Seattle than South Jersey lately, but a little rain didn't stop the Masked Bandits and Hammonton Stingrays from staging a 'friendly' meet this evening. RVSC made the trip to blueberry country for the first time in many years, and a great (and wet) time was had by all. Thanks to Hammonton for being excellent hosts.

In addition to our Olympic Division schedule, Raccoon Valley now has two 'friendly' meets on its 2009 calendar. On Wednesday, June 24th, we'll be visiting our old friends the Hammonton Stingrays. That meet will start at 6pm; all swimmers need to arrive by 5:10pm. Then on Saturday morning, July 18, we'll be hosting another pack of Stingrays; this time from Gloucester Swim Club. It will be, we think, the first meeting between the two teams since 1991! That one starts at 9am, and the Parent-Alumni Meet will be held immediately afterwards (roughly 11:15am, we'd guess.)

Kids: Don't forget, 2009 Swim & Dive Team practice starts on Tuesday, May 26th. We're filling out the web site with dates and schedules as we receive them. Parents, mark your calendars: there will be a mandatory meeting on Saturday, June 13th immediately after Time Trials. Remember that we have three home meets this year (including one Wednesday evening meet against Vineland.) New in 2009: the first Raccoon Valley Parents vs. Alumni All-Star Swim Meet on Saturday, July 18th, in which the kids will serve as coaches and officials, while parents and recent Bandits grads will not be able to get out of bed the next morning will be the competitors!

Attention all Masked Bandits: The 2009 Swim & Dive Team Registration Night will be Thursday, May 7th, from 6pm to 8pm at Pleasant Valley School. The folks from Danzeisen & Quigley will be there too to take swimsuit and equipment orders. The registration form and the Parents Committee's official Pre-Season Letter are now online on the About The Swim Team page.