The Morris Plains Marlins: Strokes of Genius

The Morris Plains Marlins swim team hasn't lost a meet in three years.

Head coach Tina Cecala expects the same amount of dedication from the 6-year-olds as she does from her 18-year-olds. Maybe that's why they're so good. Maybe that's why they stay so long ... and come back.

This is Cecala's second generation of Marlins. Her assistant coaches Corrine Cecala, Joseph Cecala, (her son and daughter) and Chrissy Chase all came up through the Marlin's program. Joseph Cecala said his mother's coaching helped him to be a three-star athlete at Morristown High School and to shine on the football field at Springfield College as a senior this fall.

The Marlins have seven to eight swim meets every season. A meet consists of 48 events (boys or girls) which include various swim strokes: freestyle, breast stroke, back stroke, and butterfly at lengths between 25 and 100 yards. There are also medley relays and freestyle relays. The swimmers compete according to age: 8 and under, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14 and 15-18.

Preparing for their next meet against tough rival Bernardsville at the Community Center Pool on Wednesday, July 20, the team heard from head coach Tina Cecala that, "If someone on the team doesn't do their best, we all lose!"

This is the wave that resonates in her pool. You can see it as the boys and girls prepare for competition, and hear it from the assistant coaches, who enjoy helping the individual swimmers to do their best.

"Our kids really work hard in practice," said Corrine Cecala. "That's what makes them great." And, keeps them winning.

"The kids try to challenge each other; push each other to do better." Joe Cecala said as he prepared the team for Wednesday. "We do drills that help each of the swimmers work on their personal best." 

With all this talk of hard work and pushing kids to be their best, you might get the impression of a boot camp atmosphere at the Morris Plains Community Pool. But, to the contrary, the team practices seem focused, yet fun. There was even a little time for some water polo.

As Tina Cecala patrolled her Marlins as they practiced, she smiled and said, "I love working with the kids!" 

 "Winning is great," Chrissy Chase  said, "But to see the look on the kid's faces and their parent's faces when they realized they've swam their best time... I love to see that!"

The funny thing about the Marlins is that everyone who tries out makes the team- as long as they can swim. So "Coach Tina" and her staff must really put a lot of time and effort into making their kids the best that they can be. "I can't pick one star on this team. They're all great kids," she said.

The Morris Plains Marlins would love to see a great turnout at their swim meet this Wednesday at the Community Pool at 5 p.m. Even though the coaches and team don't see going undefeated as the main goal of this meet, it's always nice to see a group of kids do something so amazing.