1982-1983 SWIM TEAM TEAM YEAR OF INDUCTION: 2015 The 1982-1983 Steinert High school swim team was perfectly captured in a sports column Bruce Johnson wrote for the Trenton Times. The article was titled “Late starters, fast finishers.” It noted that out of the 17 team members, only a few of them were accomplished youth swimmers with prior experience and training before high school. Yet the team captured the Mercer County Championship and was ranked No. 6 in New Jersey. The remarkable ability of head coach Jim Barrett and assistant coach Bob Sedia to train and get the best out of the late starters and seasonal swimmers speaks volumes. Every team member brought heart and desire to the pool and to the undefeated season. To achieve a perfect record (16-0) is an extremely hard task in any sport; to achieve it with 75% of your team that started their swimming careers as freshmen is a feat that may never be replicated again at any high school. Five of “J.B.’s Army” – David Parsons, Chip Hector, Jack Wig, Dave Womer and Greg Kowalik - qualified for the NJSIAA championships. That was four more than had qualified from Steinert in the previous eight years combined. Wig, a four-year member of the SHS swim program, set pool and school records and won a county title in the breaststroke. He was a co-captain along with Womer, who was the top performer in the county in the individual medley as a junior. Kowalik came out for the team for the first time – as a senior --- and ended up second in Mercer County in the 50 freestyle, sixth in the sectional invitational and participated on Steinert's two state-qualifying relays. Parsons, a junior, and Hector, a sophomore, were described as outstanding swimmers that left opponents checking for fins and gills because they were so effective in the water. J.B. said these outstanding swimmers were “gifts” to the SHS swim program. Under the tutelage of Barrett and Sedia, the elite swimmers were joined by the late-blooming seasonal swimmers to make the Spartans winners. The members of the 1982-83 SHS swim team are: Chip Hector, Dave Parsons, Mike Parsons, Kevin Lenk, Pete Griessler, Greg Kowalik, Dave Lane, John O’Brien, Steve Weiss, John McDonald, Dave Boyer, Dave Womer, Rich Snarski, Tom Kelly, Chuck Joralemon, Ed Wyszynski and Jack Wig. The coaching staff included J.B. Barrett and Bob Sedia. Click Here to enlarge the team photo. RETURN TO THE HALL OF FAME MEMBERS PAGE