The Cicero-North Syracuse boys swimming and diving team opened its "home" 2021-22 season with a 106-73 loss to Fulton on Wednesday at the Nottingham High School pool.
But after returning home the Northstars team learned that, eventually, they will finally have a pool of their own. Proposition 2, which detailed a $16.95 million development project of a community pool facility on the C-NS campus, had passed.
"A swimming pool is an asset not just for the team but for the whole community," said Cicero-North Syracuse boys swim coach Paul Gil. "The ability to start with swim lessons and potentially move them through to competitive swimming is an asset. We have spent 28 years on the road, which has been very taxing on the kids. They persevere because of their love of the sport and commitment to the team. We are feeling very emotional over this. It's been a long time coming."
The vote passed with 82% yes, according to Gill. He added, "We have a very tight knit group who works together and have great value in being part of the team. We are a small team this year but our front-end speed will keep us in a lot of meets. Getting the newer kids to the next level is key." Against Fulton, Jake Griffin set a school record in the 100 backstroke with a time of 58.62. According to Gill, Jake and his twin brother Caden are both hard workers and students of the sport. Connor Burke is a tremendous leader and tenacious swimmer for us. They are all headed for big things."
