Photo by River Dell/New Miford Coach Chris Armen
Brendan O’Connell presents RJ Olski the vaunted Purple Speedo Tuesday night.
Honestly, it is kind of a sad day for North Jersey swimming with the announcement of Demarest coach Mike Ives stepping down. I was talking to another swim coach today and we talked about all of the things Ives did for swimming in this area. Point blank, he got stuff done. He is well respected by everyone and I will certainly miss his sense of humor and approach to coaching. We have been friends for several years and it won’t be the same without him on the deck.
I don’t know how to segue from that to this, so I won’t even try.
There is one special event that happens every winter in swimming that involves just a small piece of purple nylon. And its one of my favorite moments of the year. It’s the presentation of the Purple Speedo.
Why? I could list a bunch of different reasons, but I think my favorite is just because this is totally a kid-driven, kid-selected award.
I was there the night it started in 2008 when (it was then called River Dell/New Milford, now its River Dell/Westwood) standout Brian Friedlander first passed on his iconic swimsuit. Trust me, you had to know Brian and his family. He was a character.
It was sort of a goof, but it was sort of serious too. Most of all it was fun, which is what high school athletics is supposed to be all about.
You see, its not often written about or talked about, but the kids know. The kids know who deserves to be written about in the paper, who deserves to start, who deserves to be on the bench, who practices hard and gets the most out of their ability and who doesn’t.
And that’s sort of who ends up getting the Purple Speedo now. It’s not the highest point scorer, or the fastest swimmer. Its the kid who deserves it and its a senior boy.
Tuesday night, I was invited to be at the River Dell/Westwood banquet, but I had other work to attend too. Im sorry I missed it. How big of a deal is this to me? I took the Varsity Wife with me one year. The food is out of sight….ribs….ribs. Incredible ribs. Did I mention the ribs?
Near the end of the dinner, Brendan O’Connell, the sixth owner of the speedo (I dont think anyone ever wears the speedo any more, I mean, come on) took the podium and announced the owner for next swim season: RJ Olski.
According to River Dell/Westwood coach Chris Armen, O’Connell praised Olski for his “iron lungs.â€
“RJ is a runner who swims in the winter to give his legs a break,†said Armen. “At our dinner, we said anything that is hard, RJ has to do. He does have iron lungs….he can go forever.â€
O’Connell was a team captain and a 4-year swimmer for Armen, who swam the 100 breast and sprint freestyles. Olski does the 200 IM and the 500 free and often times after swimming the 500 will get out an anchor a relay. (This is like running a mile, then doing a 100 dash as fast as you can).
The River Dell/Westwood girls were 9-2 and just missed out on a league title. Armen’s boys were 0-9. They didn’t win a meet. Somehow I think that makes the legacy of the Purple Speedo even better. Who cares if you are 0-9 if you are better than you were when you started?
Olski now is the 7th owner of the Purple Speedo. Are you wondering who the other 6 are? Well, I’m going to keep track.
Friedlander to Matt Skroce to Nishant Patel to Timmy Arakelian to Ryan McDonough to Brendan O’Connell.
That’s a list of winners right there.