Lakeland Regional High School’s swim team is making waves during the 2019 to 2020 season by yet again by doing something other teams might not ever attempt to do. This year, the Lakeland swim team is joining forces with LRHS’ biggest rival, West Milford High School.  

The swim team at Lakeland is still very young – only three years old. And even though the program has grown in popularity, the change to merge teams stemmed from financial issues. Swim coach and LRHS teacher Ms. Patricia Keberdle said, “The cost of the pool at PCTI is very expensive, so in order for our Lakeland students to incur less cost, West Milford is paying for half.”

In the beginning of the season, swimmers were unsure of how the dynamic between both schools was going to play out. Luckily, it ended up being better than everyone expected. Senior Carly Malfatto, captain of the girl’s team, described their first meeting as full of suspicion. However, as the team grew, they formed an unlikely bond and “it seemed like everyone had become best friends,” Malfatto said. 

Joining forces proved to be a beneficial idea as the team has been extremely successful thus far. As of December 11, LRHS is 1-1, and Ms. Keberdle has high hopes for the season, as does the rest of the team.

LRHS swim team has been extremely successful the past two years, so a third season of wins doesn’t seem unlikely. The LRHS and WMHS swim team’s next meet is against Northern Valley on January 6 at PCTI.