Even without a local pool, Riverhead swimmers excel in competitions with near-daily training

Riverhead’s tiny swim team may not have easy access to an indoor swimming pool, but that hasn’t stopped its swimmers from performing among the best in Suffolk County at local swim meets.

The team has grown from one to three swimmers this year, and two of them qualified to participate in the Suffolk County swim championships last weekend.

“It’s a huge dedication for the girls and their families,” said Lindsay Lindenbaum, a Riverhead health teacher who oversees the district’s fledgling swim team. “Their commitment is just incredible.”

The sport requires rigorous, near-daily training, which is no small task even without a school swimming pool or local swim club. Families drive at least 40 minutes away to one of the nearest private swim clubs – in Port Jefferson or Brentwood – so that their swimmers can complete at least an hour of daily training in the water. Team members undergo an hour of “dry land” training every day as well, which includes weight-lifting, running and other cardio exercises.

“It’s at least five days a week, and at least two hours a day between water and land,” Lindenbaum said.

The team began last year with a single member, Brianna Cybulski. This year, two other swimmers have joined her: Tercia Dobrzynski, a freshman, and Johanna Governali, who is in eighth grade.

Before Cybulski’s decision to swim for Riverhead schools last year, there had not been a Riverhead swimmer competing in county competitions in nearly a decade.

“There has been a lot of attention and publicity for the sport in the past few years, with the Olympics and all these world-famous swimmers,” Lindenbaum said. “The sport has really taken off for the young ones – which is great, because it’s such a fantastic sport.”

Swimming fosters friendly competition, she says, because team members are all competing against one another even though they represent the same school district. “Their times are all independent, so they want to see each other succeed,” she said. “There’s a great sense of camaraderie. The girls are very supportive of each other.”

Because Riverhead does not have a varsity team, the three swimmers have formed an independent team to represent the school district. Though Lindenbaum manages the team’s paperwork and keeps track of their times and events, she is not involved in their training. Instead, each swimmer is trained by their swim club’s coach.

Dobrzynski and Cybulski, who is now in tenth grade, both competed in the Suffolk County Championship Swim Meet last weekend. Though neither swimmer qualified for the state championships, they both beat their best times at the county competition.

“I’m very proud of all the girls,” Lindenbaum said.