By JACK DAVIS Special to the Palisadian-Post If the first two meets of the season are any indication, this should be a good year for the Palisades High swimming teams. Following a 2010 season where the girls won the City Championships and the boys finished third, there was plenty of reason to be optimistic heading into 2011, even with 14 departed seniors. And so far, the youthful Dolphins have proven to be just as capable as last year’s slightly more experienced teams. First, on March 21, they beat Westchester handily at home, with the boys winning 120-25 and the girls 139-15. Then, on Monday this week, Pali took on University at the Maggie Gilbert Aquatic Center’and dominated the Wildcats across the board, with scores of 123-44 (boys) and 139-30 (girls). ’Uni has been in a developmental stage for a couple years now,’ said Pali coach Brooke King. ‘Coach Pam Doman has done a great job there in tightening up the ranks and improving their skills as a team.’ That said, many of the meet’s closest competitions involved Dolphins racing against each other. Freshman Jayme Rossie and senior Sabrina Giglio went head to head in a nail-biting competition in the 100 breaststroke, finishing less than a second apart, with Rossie ultimately prevailing. On the boys side, junior J.J. Amis and sophomore Anton Pronichenko raced in an equally compelling 100 breaststroke, as the pair stayed neck-and-neck before Amis touched first. ’This season we have so many new and returning talented swimmers,’ captain Samantha Rosenbaum said. ‘With Allie Vitous leading in freestyle, Andrew Hacker in backstroke and Tristan Marsh in butterfly, we have a undefeatable lineup.’ The boys captain, Hacker, echoed Rosenbaum’s sentiments. ’It is amazing to see the progress we have made,’ he said. ‘We are aiming to bring home the City title for both the boys and the girls.’ This week, Pali also began the Beverly Hills Invitational, considered to be one of the team’s toughest meets of the season, an invite-only competition where the Dolphins will face some of the top teams in the L.A. area, such as Santa Monica, Venice, Mira Costa and Beverly Hills. The boys swam on Tuesday and the girls swam yesterday (after the Palisadian-Post went to press). The finals take place tomorrow at 3 p.m. Pali’s next home meet is against LACES on Monday at 4 p.m.
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