By Jim Hague
Reporter staff writer
The sun was just about rising over Tonnelle Avenue in North Bergen Wednesday morning and the clock near the township’s new municipal pool complex read 6:57 a.m.
But there were 40 or so youngsters already hard at work, bending, stretching, doing their morning exercises under the leadership of a diligent and dedicated drill sergeant named Jairis Galvez.
“Get those legs off the ground, people,” Galvez barked. “You have to do better than that.”
It was a regular assortment of calisthenics, jumping jacks, sit-ups, tummy crunches, leg raises, followed by an array of leg stretches as the youngsters made like praying mantis across the basketball court.
Wait, this is late July, you know, summer vacation time. Kids aren’t supposed to be up and active at the crack of dawn.
But the early starting time doesn’t bother 8-year-old Nikole Marin.
“I have to get up at 6 a.m. when I have school,” said Marin, who will be a third grader in the fall at North Bergen’s Horace Mann School. “So it’s actually pretty easy.”
However, there are a few who are letting out big yawns as the exercise regimen is carried out.
But the kids all know that the exercises are just a prelim to what lies ahead, namely a rigorous practice in the new pool.
These are the dedicated members of the North Bergen Gators, the township’s resident swim team, coached by Galvez and Carolina Loaiza. These 40 or so youngsters, ages 6 through 18, get up every morning and head to the new pool for their daily workout, with the strict leadership of Galvez and Loiaza leading them along.
Definitely dedicated
“They are definitely dedicated,” said Galvez, who has been coaching in the program for the last nine years. “For them to get up and be here every day at 6:30 in the summer is definitely dedication. You have to give them credit. They’re very serious about swimming. They work hard.”
They’re also very good at it. The team is currently undefeated at 6-0, having defeated all other swim programs in Hudson County this far, including perennial power Bayonne. It’s the first time ever that the Gators have been undefeated this late in the season, as the Hudson County and state sectional championships loom in the coming weeks.
It’s no coincidence that the Gators are enjoying their best season this summer, because this is the first year in the last four that they’ve had a pool to call their very own.
In recent years, the team would have to gather at all hours in North Bergen and board buses for practices that were held at the Secaucus municipal pool. North Bergen didn’t have a municipal pool since the old facility was shut down in 2002 due to chromium contamination found at the old pool.
But the township built a new $5 million municipal swimming complex that opened in June, just in time for the competition season.
The Gators had been working out indoors since January once a week at a Union City school, but now have the benefit of having their own competition-sized pool in the township.
“I believe having their own pool brought their swimming spirits out and they began to perform better,” Galvez said.
“It’s much more helpful having our own pool,” Loiaza said. “We can set our own practice times and host competitions now. We had three competitions at our pool already this summer. Instead of being bused everywhere, we can now come to our own place.”
The new facility is certainly appreciated by the youngsters.
“It feels great to say we have a home pool now,” said 14-year-old Christian Nunez. “We’re not always the visitors now. I think the new pool has helped me a lot to become a better swimmer. It’s closer to my house and I get more time to actually swim instead of traveling.”
“Now, we feel like we’re really part of something special,” said 13-year-old Victoria Mollinedo. “We’re really happy.”
It also helps that the team is winning.
“We beat Bayonne and we never beat them before,” Mollinedo said. “I’m really proud of that.”
Bayonne had not lost a match to a Hudson County team in over four years, before the Gators pulled the upset last Saturday.
“We’re doing so well and right now, we’re undefeatable,” said Marin.
It was clear to see where she was going with that comment.
The team practices every day and usually has meets on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Every morning, long before the rush hour traffic becomes a headache on nearby Tonnelle Avenue, the kids are there, doing their stretches, then hitting the pool.
“The exercises help us get warmed up,” said Marin, who is among the best in her age bracket in the backstroke. “Then, we get in the pool and get the real exercise. I don’t mind it at all, because the water is really refreshing.”
The hard work is paying off. Swimmers like Marin, Mollinedo, 13-year-old Elizabeth Aguilar and 11-year-old Juan Abdala have already become among the best swimmers in the county.
And as a team? How can you argue with being “undefeatable”?
“It’s a big accomplishment for this team to be undefeated,” Loiaza said. “The kids have been working their butts off and put their time in. It’s also the parents, too, who have to drive the kids to the practices and the competitions. The kids have a nice pool now and they’re excited to be here. They’re doing better than we expected this summer.”
“I think the kids are even more excited than the coaches,” Galvez said. “I think this is a brand new opening to them, a brand new start. It’s much more organized now because we have a pool. It’s more structured in terms of time. It’s just better all around.”
Mollinedo feels that the Gators provide more than just recreation and fun.
“I’ve been a part of six other swim teams in my life and this is like being part of a family,” Mollinedo said. “I never felt that way before. I started swimming three years ago and this is great. I’ve met a lot of friends and I’m very happy.”
“This is a team sport and the team is doing well,” Galvez said. “It’s really been like a brand new team, a brand new feeling this year.”
Winning – and finally, a home to call their own – can provide those happy feelings every time.
Jim Hague can be reached via e-mail at either OGSMAR@aol.com or jhague@hudsonreporter.com