The Barrington High School girls swim team defeated Moses Brown on Monday afternoon, improved to 7-0 for the regular season, and extended its stretch of undefeated dual meet seasons to 11 straight.

Barrington High School Swim Coach Sandy Gorham said he has been blessed with great feeder programs in the area, including the Bayside YMCA, Commonwealth, and Kingfisher. 

“Between the three of them I get really good swimmers,” Gorham said. “I just have to mold them into a team.”

Gorham has shown an impressive ability to do just that, year in and year out. In addition to celebrating 11 straight undefeated dual meet seasons, the Barrington High School girls swim team has won 10 straight state championships. 

Gorham is hoping to extend the state title streak to 11 this year.

“This is one of the most complete teams we’ve had, in terms of being strong through every event,” he said.

Seniors Lara Tolley, Ava Webster and Jillian Frechette are captains for this year’s team. Gorham said all three are hard-workers who have sacrificed their individual goals for the success of the team. This year, Gorham said he will reward them with the opportunity to swim more of their primary events. 

“Fortunately, the strength of the team is such that I can put them back and give them more rest for their top events,” he said. 

Coach Gorham said this year’s team has talent across all four years. He mentioned juniors Molly Hanratty, Kate McAdams and Vivian Wen, sophomores Molly DiGiacomo, Reese Graveline, Sadie Brown, and Lily O’Neill, and freshmen Grace Lunardelli, Grace Fontaine, Aya Yui, Katelyn Xian and Scarlett Wasinowicz. 

Gorham said Lunardelli has had an impressive start to her high school career and could battle for the top spot in the 100 butterfly at the state meet. Gorham said he keeps track of the top five times over the years, and Lunardelli currently has the second-fastest time ever in the 100 butterfly among all BHS swimmers. 

“She’s an outstanding swimmer,” Gorham said. “She’s very fast, very talented.”

Gorham is also excited about what the future holds for Fontaine. 

“I don’t think she realizes how good she is. She’s a very talented swimmer,” he said. “Natural sprinter speed.”

Gorham said the team continues to work hard and prepare for the postseason meets.

“They’re great to coach — very self-motivated,” Gorham said.

Boys team

Gorham is equally impressed with the consistent level of performance exhibited by the Barrington High School boys team this season. The Eagles finished 5-2 in the dual meets — they lost to Hendricken by two points, and fell by 10 to a new South County Co-op team that later knocked off Hendricken.

“We got beat by 10, but we were missing one of our swimmers. I frankly think we’ll be in the hunt,” Gorham said, referring to the state championship meet. 

Gorham said the BHS boys team is a solid squad. 

“We’re pretty good up and down the ladder. We have good swimmers in all the events. And I think we have a little bit of depth in the boys this year too,” he said.

Keith Hartman and Lucas Ferreira are co-captains this year, and Gorham heaped praise on both swimmers. Hartman and Ferreira compete in the 200 and 500 freestyle events. About Hartman, Gorham added “He’s really, really developed into an outstanding backstroker.”

Adyn Duru, a sophomore, will pace the Eagles in the 50 and 100 events. “He’ll probably be top four or five. He’s done a very very nice job this year,” Gorham said. 

Ben Choi-Schattle, a junior, will compete in the 100 backstroke and the 100 free. 

Gorham also referenced a stellar group of breaststroke swimmers: Freshman Roc Falaguerra, sophomore Leo Katz, junior Justin Kuo, and freshman Evan Frechette. 

The Eagles also have Zach Carreira, a junior, in the 200 and 500 freestyle events, Ben McClelland, a senior, in the 50 and 100 backstroke, and junior Gabe Anderson in the 50 and 100 freestyle.

“He was a good swimmer, but not a competitive swimmer last year. This year he’s done really well. He’s a hard-working kid,” Gorham said. 

In addition, Nick Kotsiris will compete in the sprint freestyle events. 

Gorham said the group is looking forward to the postseason meets. 

“They’re a hard-working driven group of kids. They’re excited,” he said.