Salisbury doesn’t have the number of swimmers that some of the other area’s schools do. But there’s no question about the Falcon swimmers’ dedication and willingness to put the team before individual goals.

One case in point came in their season opener against Blue Mountain, a rescheduled meet that took place last Friday at KidsPeace Broadway. Salisbury may have lost both the boys (106-72) and girls (107-65) meets, but many of individual swimmers had solid starts to the winter season.

“What impressed me the most was the willingness of my swimmers to swim events they are unaccustomed to swimming,” Salisbury head coach Patrick O’Connor said. “They are getting out of their comforts zones to help the team win meets.”

It’s not a surprise that a number of last year’s state-qualifying swimmers have been leading the boys’ side early on. But plenty of newcomers are also making a name for themselves in the opening weeks.

Mahlon Reihman, last year’s two-time state champion, and Daniel Bonge picked up first-place finishes against Blue Mountain. Both were members of the 200-yard medley relay (2:13.87), 200-yard freestyle relay (1:31.26) and 400-yard freestyle relay teams (3:25.59) that took the top spot.

AJ Oliver was also a member of two of those relay teams that came in first, and Ben Wiener swam a leg in all three races. Reihman also touched the wall first in the 50-yard freestyle. Bonge won the 100-yard butterfly. Oliver took first place in the 100-yard breaststroke, and diver Tyler Keller was the top finisher in his event.

“Mahlon [Reihman], Daniel [Bonge], Ben Wiener and Tim Sechler-Stone are all eclipsing last year’s times already,” O’Connor said. “Additionally, we have a new swimmer, AJ Oliver, who is stepping in nicely and performing well in the breaststroke and making our medley relay a potential district championship relay.”

On the girls’ side, a number of swimmers are also closing in on their times from last year’s district meet. Leading the way is sophomore Sarah Bobeck, who won two individual events (the 50-yard freestyle in 25.61 seconds and the 500-yard freestyle in 5:29.71) and the 400-yard freestyle relay in 4:15.77.

Madaket Chassard, Brooke Rogers and Cathryn Fitzsimmons also helped that relay team place first. Chassard tied for first in the 200-yard freestyle, and Rogers won the 100-yard freestyle in 1:03.32.

“Sarah Bobeck and Madaket Chassard are two who swam really well,” O’Connor said. “They are matching or beating their times from last year’s district meet already.

“They are a well-coached team and have talent on both the boys and girls side.”

The focus in the upcoming weeks is a twofold approach. While districts and states are eventually in sight as a long-term goal for some swimmers, O’Connor and his team is focused on putting together its best effort on a meet-by-meet basis. Regardless of the numbers, it’s no doubt that Salisbury will give its best effort each time in the pool.

“Going forward, we swim whoever is on our schedule,” O’Connor said. “More importantly though, we are going to do a stretch of training that they have never experienced. We will be training harder and longer than they have ever gone. This is to prepare them for the remainder of the regular season, and to solidify their base of training so that we can excel at districts and states.”