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The girls swimming team from the Ursuline School of New Rochelle begins every meet with an enthusiastic rendition of three cheers concluding with a spirited recitation of the Rosary.
It must work because the team won its 100th straight dual meet Oct. 7 at their home pool at the College of New Rochelle. The Koalas defeated Bronxville High School, 89-73, to continue a winning streak that now extends 11 consecutive seasons. The Ursuline swimmers have also captured five post-season Section 1 titles in a row. Ursuline competes in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association. Section 1 takes in Westchester, Rockland, Putnam and Dutchess counties and includes more than 80 member schools.
“The school designs itself to attract great students and with great students come great student-athletes,” explained Coach John Brian Hansbury. “Kids want to be part of that and be part of a winning team. They are the younger sisters of the older swimmers. We have 54 girls on our team. And we try to get everyone into it at least once and win.”
This season the Koalas have already picked up wins against Sleepy Hollow High School, Rye High School and New Rochelle High School.
As to the team’s pre-meet ritual Coach Hansbury acknowledged it has raised a few eyebrows.
“Some are taken back a little bit because it is a prayer. But I think over the years people have just gotten used to it that its those crazy girls from Ursuline doing their thing,” he said. “We cut our warm up a little bit short just so we can get in that ritual. To them it’s sacred in the sense that they need to have those three cheers to perform.”
The Koalas have two more regular season meets left, with Tappan Zee and Clarkstown. The coach said the girls would like to keep the streak going but other schools in the section have strong teams so it won’t be easy. If the streak does end at 100, there will be no worries.
“The school is very proud of them,” Hansbury said. “They’ve got a long history. They have a lot of alumni that are very proud of them. If we can reach 101, that’s great. But if it ends at 100, it’s a benchmark. We just start over again.”
