
The Wayne Hills Swim Team has always been one of the best swim teams in the county. Some might say they don’t get enough recognition. In both the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 season, the Wayne Hills Swim Team did exceptionally well. This season, Hills has accomplished several remarkable goals, including a new school record set by freshman Parker Gentile for the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:18, the girls winning against Wayne Valley 100-70, and some school records by sophomore Sion Lee, sophomore Canyon Flower, senior Jace Kim, and freshman Bazil Estime for the boys team.
The girls swim team, as well as they are doing, are at a slight disadvantage this season compared to previous seasons. Senior Sasha Wunej said, “This season there are a lot less girls, so we’re having to find ways to spread everyone out and make sure we’re using everyone in events that will get us the most amount of points.” Despite this drawback, Hills still did well in one of their biggest games. Wunej says, “It (Wayne Valley game) was our biggest match, it hadn’t been that close since my freshman year. We’re normally sure we have a better chance to win … We were more nervous (this year) going into it because we didn’t have as many girls.” Wayne Hills had 20 girls on their team in the 2022-2023, and 16 in the 2023-2024 season. This year, they only have 13 girls, yet the girls team beat Valley by 30 points.
Some things the boys swim team has accomplished this season include many school records broken and achieving second place at the Passaic County Championship meet. Mrs. Bayliss, the boys swim coach, said, “Hills has not come in second place … in the ten years I have been coaching the team.” This season is going evidently well for both the girls and boys Wayne Hills Swim teams!
There is some remarkable talent among the boys underclassmen as well. In addition to Gentile’s impressive records, Mrs. Bayliss mentioned that some sophomores and freshmen have broken multiple school records for the boy’s team. She says, “We have broken two (records) so far … Sion Lee broke the 100 Backstroke record and the relay team of Canyon Flower, Bazil Estime, Jace Kim, and Sion Lee broke the 200 Free Relay record.” The future of the Wayne Hills Swim Boys Team seems to be in great hands with the talented players Mrs. Bayliss mentioned that will surely lead this team to success for the rest of their years at Hills.