With lots of seniors graduating over the past few years and fewer swimmers to replace them, the swim team is overjoyed to have two standout freshmen to fill those holes.

The swim team is looking to those new teammates, Nicole Kosco and Dylan Stokes, to help spur success.
Both Kosco and Stokes have been swimming for eight years, which helps them in competitions because they already have participated in various meets over the years.

Kosco said her dad was the person who got her so involved with swimming because he was a swimmer too. A big benefit of joining Baldwin’s swim team has been reuniting her with girls from various club teams, she said.

“I really look up to some of the older girls because we swam club (teams) throughout my whole life, so I am really excited I get to swim with them,” Kosco said.

Kosco placed in every meet in the opening portion of the season. Senior Jordan Fediazcko said her future is promising.

“Nicole is a very hard worker and I think she will do big things for the Baldwin swim team in her time here,” Fediazcko said.

Both Kosco and Stokes said they work as hard as they can in practice so they can compete against the upperclassmen. Fediazcko said she is excited for this season because the freshmen are adding depth to the team, which they lost with the swimmers who graduated in the past few years.

Stokes competes in many events, including freestyle, and he is a part of both relay teams. Kosco swims in all of the events including the relay teams, but she says she enjoys anything with the butterfly stroke the best.

Stokes said competing with seniors from other schools can be intimidating sometimes, but he does not let it get to him. He said he tries to be the best he can everytime he swims.

“I like having hard competition because it makes me work harder,” Stokes said.

Senior Josh Manning said Stokes is a great addition to the boys team. Manning said he thinks Stokes will succeed for the rest of this season and his high school career.

“He is a talented swimmer and we all learn things from each other,” Manning said.

Both Stokes and Kosco are trying to make WPIALs this season and have long-term goals to break a few of the Baldwin all-time records.

Kosco said her favorite thing about swimming is to be able to push herself every day as an individual but still be a part of a team.

The team has much lower numbers than previous years because of the number of seniors who have not been replaced in the past few years. Some current students also did not come back for another season this year.

Despite this adversity, the Baldwin swim team collectively feels like they are more confident and have better team spirit than in previous years.

“We are getting along better this year and it’s a lot more fun,” Manning said.

Fediazcko said although they have low numbers, the team is bonding more like a team and having a lot of fun together. This season will be much more memerable. Kosco agreed.

“I love being on the team this year and I cannot wait to see how the rest of my Baldwin swim career plays out,” Kosco said.