At this time two years ago, current senior Michael Ferneini was heading into the home stretch of the varsity swim season, and like the rest of his teammates, preparing for the New England championships. The Hornets had come up just short for several years, but led by recent alums Duncan Farquharson, Joe Tenedine, Spencer McCleary, Steven Zhang, Liam Kohler, and MVP Sam Lovejoy, the Hornets hoisted their first NEPSAC championship banner in 2020. Their hopes of defending their title, however, were put on hold because of Covid. Last year the team held several virtual meets, and there was no NEPSAC meet. 
     With the return of live competition, however, the 2021-2022 season has now given the Hornets a chance to prove themselves again and vie for another shot at the title. The alums who anchored that team are gone - with Farquharson and Lovejoy now enjoying successful collegiate careers. Even the beloved coach, Ken Pierson, has departed. Yet the present squad, now coached by Jen Lyman, includes a core of strong swimmers, several of whom swam on that 2020 title team, including Michael’s younger brother Anthony, plus Evan and Eric Huang. The boys team is presently 7-2, and the girls sit at 7-3. The other day, Michael, now one of the captains, provided a few reflections on the season and his teammates.
     “Our team this year is small, much smaller than in past years; however, what we lack in size we make up for with big personalities. Patrick Cucchiarelli and Anthony Ferneini are always making jokes during practice, and Josh Tenedine is constantly trying to get everyone on the team energized and involved. Our team has had great chemistry right from the start. Most of the guys played together on the school water polo team in the fall so they had already had a season together to bond. When the swim season started it was very easy to add new people into friend groups and create a team filled with comradery and energy. Our coach, Jen,  is new to Hamden Hall this year and she has done an amazing job at adjusting to the prep school athletic system since it is very different from public school. “
     “Something that I think is really special about our team is that it is filled with siblings: Isabella, Anthony, and myself; plus Evan and Eric, and now Kai and Gracie Chometa. We’ve had some really funny sibling moments, especially when Anthony and I start bickering at practice (though more fun for people watching and less funny for me). “
     “The best motivation for our team has really been wanting to win. We did not get a real season last year and a lot of the upperclassmen have been disappointed and that has made the desire to win even stronger. During a meet against Dexter-Suffield our coach told us during a break that we were only clinging to a narrow lead, and for some reason that sparked a fire in all of us, so in the second half we exploded in the pool, winning by about 30 points which is a pretty big margin in a swim meet.”
     “We are all super excited to race against Hopkins which is coming up. Although we have a small team we really want to beat Hop again. That would be the perfect way to make another run for the championship.”
     To roughly paraphrase - It’s not the size of the Hornet squad in the pool; it’s the size of the sting in the Hornets. Hopefully the team’s impressive efforts will get them to the top again. Best of luck to Michael, the siblings, and all of the team and coaches.