Ocean City girls swim team turned in a season to remember

By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Publisher Noel Styer knew the stars were aligning as she entered her final season as a high school swimmer at Ocean City. She and her senior teammates had toiled for four years to reach the height of their potential, and the Red Raiders were getting an influx of more than a dozen freshmen, some of them very high quality club swimmers. Styer figured Ocean City had a chance to win its first South Jersey championship in school history. Not only did the Red Raiders make their mark by doing just that, they practically rewrote the school’s record book during a season for the ages. In high school swimming there are 22 possible school records, 11 events timed in both yards and meters. Ocean City shattered 15 of those records this year and posted a team record of 14-1 that included a Cape-Atlantic League championship and the overall South Jersey title. Styer was responsible for four new individual school records and also was a part of four relays that set new marks, and all freshman Amanda Nunan did was set four individual records and win an individual state championship. Senior freestyle swimmer Noel Styer had an amazing season for the Red Raiders, setting several school records while helping to lead her team to its first South Jersey championship. (Photo by Ben Hale/Ben Hale Photography) “We had 18 freshmen come out so we knew the team was going to be a lot bigger this year and we were excited about that. We knew we had several strong freshmen, and Amber Glenn transferred from Atlantic City, so we knew we had a lot more depth. We always thought about a state title. That was always on our mind,” Styer said. “Everyone kept telling me, ‘your senior year you guys are going to have a great team.’ I hesitated at first, but then I started looking at it and we were strong in nearly every event,” fellow senior Rachel Chain said. “The only event we didn’t have a lot of depth in was the breaststroke, and Aleva Parker really stepped up for us. I have never seen more dedication than I saw from her. She did so well this year, I’m so proud of her. And we had Amanda Nunan who was a big contributor to our team. And Noel, of course. We’ve watched each other grow up and without each other I don’t think we would have gotten as far as we did.” Styer and Chain led a group of fantastic freestyle swimmers as Ocean City cemented itself as one of the most dominating girls swimming programs in South Jersey. The Red Raiders blitzed the competition in the regular season, got past a scrappy Mainland Regional team in the playoffs, beat Haddonfield for the South Jersey title and made a run at knocking off Chatham, one of the top teams in the state, in the Public B Championship at The College of New Jersey before suffering their only loss of the season. “It was a really historic season for the girls. We broke 15 school records. It was crazy how many records were broken this year. I didn’t even realize how many we broke until I sat down and looked at every one of them. Everything fell into place,” said head coach Kate Merz, who was on Holy Spirit’s state championship winning team in 2007. “Noel had the best season of her career. She had the season of her life, which was really exciting for her, not only because of the team accolades, but she’s accomplished so much individually as well.” Styer credited the coaching staff, as well as trainers Mark Impagliazzo and John Porter of LOCal gym and Fitness in Ocean City, with helping her become one of the best freestyle swimmers in the state. She finished third in the state in the 50 freestyle and also was a part of two relay teams that finished in the top three at the Meet of Champions. Styer said the gym work really helped her get to the next level. “I felt a lot stronger and my times kept dropping. I kept up with the gym, and my trainers told me that was the key, that if I was stronger outside the pool I would be stronger inside the pool. I think it made a huge difference,” Styer said. “We’ve had a great field of coaches throughout the years and now she’s combining that with weight training through Mark and John, and that’s been a big key,” said Styer’s mother, Kim. “The club coaches and the high school coaches have allowed her to split time between them and the gym and it’s just been incredible. She’s very dedicated. She has a mindset where if she wants something she goes after it. She’s a joy to be around.” The Ocean City girls swim team capped a dream season in early March with an appearance in the Public B state championship meet. (Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan) But it wasn’t just the Noel Styer show all year long. Chain, her sister, Aly, Parker, Glenn, Gabby Breazeale and Erin Myers all had a hand in setting new school records. “Amanda is amazing. We knew she was going to be one of the best in the state. And Rachel did really well at states individually, and her sister, Aly, is getting so much better. She is so strong. You can put her in any event,” Noel Styer said. “We had a lot of distance depth this year. We were really lucky to have Amber transfer from Atlantic City, and Gabby is really good and will always push herself. We knew once Rachel and I were seniors we would have a really good group together, and that was exciting.” It was clear from the start of the season that Ocean City had no shortage of talent. But Merz said that a team can be loaded with talent and not win if the chemistry isn’t right. “My assistant, Brittany O’Donnell, and I, we knew the type of talent we had but we were cautious in the beginning because having a team with talent doesn’t mean anything unless they are a team that works well together,” Merz said. “You can have a team full of studs, but if they are not on the same page and don’t know what they can accomplish you’re not going anywhere as a team. We knew what we were capable of, but we needed the girls to know what they were capable of and become a team before we could have the success we did.” “This year we all really clicked. We really were like a family, like people say. We all hung out and we bonded together all the time, in the pool, out of the pool. As a senior it was really great having them all there. We were all really supportive of each other and that was great, especially for my senior year,” Noel Styer said. “(Coach Merz) was always supportive and told us we could do it if we stuck together. She was always there pushing us and making sure we were healthy and strong, her and our assistant coach. (O’Donnell) is like a sister to me.” Merz said what really made this year’s Red Raiders team unique was the fact that a group of solid seniors was able to mesh so well with a crop of outstanding freshmen, and she said it reminded her of the formula her Holy Spirit squad used to win their state title. “I think that’s what made our team a success. When I was a senior we won the state championship and we had a very good senior class mixed with a very strong freshman class. That’s exactly what happened this year with this team,” Merz said. “We had very strong seniors paired with these amazing freshmen, and I think the leadership on the part of the seniors really helped everyone get on the same page and work hard all season to accomplish our goals.” Rachel Chain echoed those sentiments, saying that without the support of all the team members, and their willingness to play whatever role they were asked, Ocean City likely would still be without its first South Jersey championship. “Every girl got to
race this year and that was great. This year I felt closer to the team than I have in any of my four years,” Chain said. “(Younger swimmers) were able to come up to me and talk to me, ask me questions, and that was a big honor in my eyes. I always looked up to the swimmers who were above me, and now I’m like the big sister and I watch over them. “Everybody stepped up that day (in the South Jersey final) and that’s what meant the most to me and the other seniors.” Kim Styer said that watching the way the 2013-14 swim season unfolded was like a dream come true for the parents, who in their own right are just as dedicated as the swimmers. “It’s been a whirlwind. It’s been more than we could have imagined. It takes my breath away,” Kim Styer said. “They are a phenomenal, wholesome, tight-knit group of girls. If one stumbles another picks it up. It’s a great, great group. I’m completely engaged with the booster club. I just love these kids. We have pasta dinners in our home and we’ve had as many as 70 kids come over.” If anyone thinks Ocean City will suffer any kind of dropoff as this group of seniors graduates, well, that might not be the smartest bet to make. Nunan still has three more years to go, and another Styer is on the way. Noel’s younger sister, Ryann, is in eighth grade. Watch out, South Jersey. Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays [adsense type=”banner” align=”center”]