PLAINVILLE — When Bristol Swim Co-op Aidan Palaj started the season last year his goal was to not only set a new record at Plainville High School in the Central Connecticut Conference South Championship, but it was also to reset the team record which was held by his brother.
As only a freshman Palaj walked away with the first place medal as well as the new meet record in the Boys 500 Yard Freestyle with a time of 4:41.78, three seconds faster than the previous meet record and seven seconds faster than his brother's team record.
This season, as a sophomore Palaj broke his own record in the Boys 500 Yard Freestyle setting a new record of 4:41.75. He also won the 100 yard backstroke with a time of 55.08.
“I was happy,” Palaj said. “It was tough physically and mentally trying to push myself as hard as I can. I had people chasing me and I was chasing people. We were pushing each other all around. From the beginning of the season I wanted to do that, it was my goal and I want to keep doing that.”
Bristol coach Tara McCane said when Palaj sets his sights on something he gets it done.
“He just gets this drive when we go into a championship meet,” McCane said. “One he sets his mind to it and makes it his goal he just does it.”
Palaj was just one recipient of a medal at the CCC South Championship as Aidan Collins won the 50 Yard Freestyle with a time of 22.81 and the team as a whole placed third in a very competitive meet.
Middletown ultimately won the meet, Berlin placed second and Plainville finished fourth.
“We didn't have a lot of kids. We were missing a diver and came in third place. which is kind of outstanding for not having points from the diving side. I think we did great together,” Aidan Collins said. “A lot of people did their best, a lot of people did above and beyond what they were supposed to do. We had a couple kids drop five seconds on their times, which is big chunk in swimming”
He added it’s all about the preparation that the team puts in daily.
“We put in work everyday. We are working hard, we're swimming,” he said. “It was exciting, I was happy. It was one of my goals.”
Bristol is currently in the midst of competing at states. This season, the team sent eight swimmers to states, which represents more than half of their roster. The state qualifiers include Collins, Palaj, Chris Mika, Tommy Masotti, Oliver Mangham, Cristian Cortina, Hakan Nizam and Aidan Colaianni.
“We have a pretty big states team. It’s exciting,” McCane said. “It’s pretty cool. We didn’t have that many automatically qualify last year. I think we only had three. A couple ended up getting in with time, but I think they worked really hard this year and they pushed themselves.”
McCane said the CCC South Championship was the perfect meet to prepare the team for states.
“It was exciting, the energy was high at that meet. It was a fast meet, probably the fastest group of swimmers I’ve seen,” she said. “So it was really tough so they went out there and did their thing and they finished really well.”
