CAPE ELIZABETH — The Kennebunk boys and girls swim team stepped up in big ways recently as the Rams swept the South Southwestern Swimming and Diving championships.
“The season has gone pretty well. The kids have worked really hard. It’s a great group of kids. It’s been a lot of fun. They’ve had success in the water. It’s been a lot of hard work that got them to this point,” said Kennebunk head coach Andrew Coulombe.
The Kennebunk boys swim team placed first in six events, including the 400-yard freestyle, 500-yard freestyle and the one-meter diving, to win its first title since 2008.
“It seemed like every race that happened somebody stepped up in a big way and the whole team fed off of it. That led to the next person stepping up. It was just contagious,” said Coulombe.
The Rams earned the top score to finish with 291 points, ahead of Portland (255) and Yarmouth (209). Windham (139) and Gorham (107) rounded out the top five.
Kennebunk junior Jason Albaum led the way for the Rams, winning the 200 yard IM and 500 yard freestyle and anchoring the 400 yard freestyle relay. Albaum was the only swimmer to break two minutes in the 200 free relay with a time of 1:53.92.
“Jason Albaum has been a captain since he was a sophomore. He’s always been a big performer in that meet for us. He helps shoulder the load. He just said, ‘we all know the work that we put in to get here now let’s show it off a little bit.’ He wins two events and anchors the winning relay. Then Zach Matthews wins two events,” said Coulombe.
The Kennebunk boys swim team set their sights on a South Southwesterns title early in the season.
“They believed in themselves from day one. They came in and said, ‘coach our goal is to win southwesterns.’ I said, ‘that’s a great goal. Let’s see what we can do.’ Not necessarily not believing them, but really knowing that it was going to be a daunting task. Every day that we were at the pool for practice or every meet that we had, my belief in them kept growing,” said Coulombe. “They worked so hard to get to that point that they weren’t going to let it slip away. They really believed from day one that this was going to be something that they could do and they achieved it.”
The Kennebunk girls continued their dominance of the South Southwestern meet as they won the title for the fifth straight year.
The Rams kept their crown after finishing with 243 points, ahead of Gorham (220) and Massabesic (180). Thornton Academy (156) and Yarmouth (151) claimed top five spots.
The Rams’ seniors led the way to victory.
“Our seniors are Grace Soucy, Caroline Lowery, Grace Thompson and Taylor Nguyen. For four years, they’ve been critical components to all of those championships. They came in as freshmen and haven’t lost. They’ve really helped set the foundation for the younger kids this year and taught everyone how to work hard,” said Coulombe.
Kennebunk also received crucial points from junior Ella Yentsch, who won the 200-yard freestyle and the 500-yard freestyle.
Kennebunk will now compete at the Class A state meet. The boys will compete Monday and the girls will compete Tuesday at Bowdoin College.
“I really just want them to enjoy it. They’ve worked so incredibly hard that this is their time to just show off all the hard work. We’re not hunting for a state championship trophy but I do hope that we’re able to represent ourselves and our school to the best of our ability,” said Coulombe.
— Sports Writer Sienna Barstow can be reached at sbarstow@journaltribune.com or at 780-9018. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.