“Vikings, pump it up, pump it up! Power, you know, you know!” Irvington’s chant kickstarted the 2025 Tom Crocker relays, with the team’s spirited cheers echoing through the stadium. On Saturday, March 1st, around 9:00 AM, the MVAL swim teams, consisting of Irvington, Newark, Washington, American, Mission, Moreau, Kennedy, and James Logan, gathered to compete in the first meet of the swim season, which typically lasts from February to May.
As soon as the meet started, swimmers from each school dived into their designated pool lanes and gave it their all. Teammates supported their swimmers from the concrete poolside by cheering and shouting encouragement.
After 3 hours, the Tom Crocker Relays concluded at 12:00 PM, with the teams receiving ranks based on their performance. According to Coach Tyler, the Varsity head coach, Irvington High School ranked 3rd. Coach Tyler explained, “This was a meet that was more about having fun and building team camaraderie and spirit… I believe we’re definitely in a place where we can build off of this meet and perform better as the season progresses.” As the first meet of the season, Irvington’s [participation] was less about their overall performance, but more about getting the team to come together and bond with each other through a shared competitive spirit.
Erin Wong (12), the Varsity team captain, shared her final thoughts about the relays. “I’m glad that we’ve had a lot more team bondings. Recently, we had our intra-squad meet, which was a small meet with both JV and Varsity. It was a very good bonding event. Overall, all my teammates have been very supportive, fun, and encouraging,” she reflected. Although swimming is generally an individual sport, the nature of relays relies on good morale and camaraderie amongst teammates. Swimming is not only a physical challenge, but also a mental challenge as swimmers must maintain spirit when competing
Moving forward in the season, Coach Tyler shared some of his goals for the team: to “build off a strong start to the season, and continue to progress and build on our process towards a solid MVALs championship.” Erin Wong also noted, “An improvement we need to make is getting JV and Varsity to bond a lot more.”
The 2025 Tom Crocker Relays marked the beginning of the Irvington swim season and ended with smiles and laughter. The team plans to continue progressing and improving throughout the season.
