It never seemed like a question of ‘if’ the Bridgewater-Raritan High School boys’ swimming team would win every meet this season.
That question eventually became: “How much would it win by?”
After its final team meets of 2025-26 on Wednesday morning, only one question remains that will be asked on campus for many years to come.
Where will the Panthers’ boys’ swimming squad, as well as their girls’ swimming squad, which simultaneously delivered a title-winning performance, stand amongst Bridgewater-Raritan High School’s state champions?
That is because both of them ended their years atop New Jersey’s summit.
After being eliminated in the state sectional finals four straight times to begin the decade, top-ranked Bridgewater-Raritan (12-0) not only got over that hurdle in 2025-26 in the fourth season under the leadership of Evan Seavey. The Panthers ran the table to the tune of an average of 116 points per meet, eclipsed triple figures in 11 of their 12 contests, and punctuated a perfect season with a 108-62 victory over fourth-ranked Hillsborough High School (10-2) in the NJSIAA Boys’ Swimming Group A Tournament finals Wednesday, February 25, at the Neptune Aquatic Center in Neptune.
“This is an unbelievable feeling,” said Seavey after hoisting the boys’ squad’s first state championship trophy since 2017-18, which guided the Panthers to an average of 121 points in their four postseason victories and handed Hillsborough both of its two losses this season. “I’m so happy for the boys on this team. Every single one of them has been laser-focused on all of our goals this entire season.”
“They all stepped up in the biggest and brightest moments.”
Perhaps another good question that could be asked would be whether or not Bridgewater-Raritan’s swimmers will put all of its championship rings on one hand, as Wednesday morning’s state title clincher over Hillsborough completed a historic quintet of titles won by the Panthers: division, county, conference, sectional, and state.
While that may be a good problem to have, Mother Nature unfortunately posed a more pressing question after blanketing New Jersey with a historic blizzard over the weekend. That resulted in the postponement and relocation of the state finals from nearby Rutgers University on Sunday morning to a venue a little over an hour from Bridgewater-Raritan High School’s campus at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning.
That question was as follows: “When will the inevitable finally happen?”
Right before unit lunch at Bridgewater-Raritan High School on Wednesday morning, to be exact, after a poetic performance that sent Class of 2026 seniors Nish Brahmbhatt, Antony Buniowski, Matthew Enriquez, Gajendra Joshi, Jaden Lee, Samuel Meyer, and Gabriel Quevedo into the sunset with a 41-4 record in team meets, four straight Somerset County championships, and four consecutive Skyland Conference crowns over their four years on campus.
Most importantly, they will leave campus as state champions in their final season after falling victim to Westfield High School’s dynastic run of 48 straight victories and three straight state championships over the previous three seasons.
A stretch that denied the Panthers even a state sectional championship trophy – until they finally knocked off Westfield, 118-52, in the North 2, Group A title meet on February 11 en route to running the table in 2025-26.
“This team is something special and is the greatest team I have ever been a part of,” said Meyer, who tallied three of his seven gold medals for Bridgewater-Raritan this year in the postseason alone. “From start to finish, we knew this was the end goal.”
“Just to make it here and win by such a large amount makes me speechless.”
As elite as Hillsborough proved to be, it entered Wednesday morning as a heavy underdog, especially given the Panthers already produced a 105-65 road victory in the Raiders’ home pool back on January 13. However, they still had to make the Panthers work for every point in multiple races that were collectively decided quicker than the six minutes of passing time between each of the morning classes that simultaneously occurred back on Bridgewater-Raritan High School’s campus.
Bridgewater-Raritan’s ‘A’ lane of the 200-yard medley relay: Lee, junior Marvellous Suciayahdi, junior Derek Carranza Cordero, and sophomore Aaron Roy, wasted no time making its opening statement to the tune of a gold medal and a 10-4 lead. But Hillsborough punched right back to tie the meet, 15-15, after senior John Eodice (1:42.63), junior Kevin Ward (1:44.41), and junior Kevin Minakas (1:44.93) dominated the 200-yard freestyle.
Then quickly came the turning point in the 200-yard individual medley, which saw Lee cruise in as expected with a 1:53.72 as part of a season where he touched the wall first in 29 of his 30 races. Sophomore Ryan Cervino was not too far behind at second place (1:55.65), but junior Steven Stasiulaitis capped off a sweep of the top three spots with a time of 1:59.78.
“Our depth is probably something we’re the proudest of about this team,” revealed Meyer. “We obviously have the insanely fast top ‘A’ seed guys on this team, but man, we have some insanely fast ‘B’ and ‘C’ lane swimmers that can put up points wherever and whenever. The first several meets of the season, we did not get a single sixth-place finish.”
“For a race like that 200 I.M. with Steven, that was special to watch.”
Not only was that a margin of victory of just 0.92 seconds over Hillsborough junior Luke Sudol, but it was also just over three seconds against junior Mete Ozabas. Stasiulaitis’ finish capped off a perfect trio of sub-two-minute times in this race for Bridgewater-Raritan, which stretched its lead to double digits for good after this moment.
“It’s about hard work in practice, knowing what you need to do, knowing how fast you need to go, and using your training,” explained Stasiulaitis of this pivotal race, which was the lone 1-2-3 finish by either team in the entire meet.
“I saw Luke and Mete in the other lanes for Hillsborough, so I knew I had to push myself to finish.”
That momentum carried over into the 50-yard free style, where junior Chris Wasko (21.00 seconds), Roy (21.07 seconds), and Suciayahdi (22.07 seconds) touched first, second, and fourth, respectively, to send the Panthers into the four-race intermission with a 40-22 lead.
Lee’s gold medal in the 100-yard butterfly (49.44 seconds), along with Carranza Cordero’s bronze medal (52.40 seconds), then helped Bridgewater-Raritan tack on 10 more points towards the magic number of ‘86’ points needed to clinch the state championship trophy. They moved even closer towards that milestone after tallying a 1-2-4 spot in the 100-yard freestyle courtesy of Wasko (46.36 seconds), junior Greg Rydberg (47.84 seconds), and sophomore Owen Forget (48.73 seconds), who extended the Panthers’ lead to 62-32 with five races remaining with depth that has continued to prove to be unmatchable.
Hillsborough then answered with its best finish of the meet in the 500-yard freestyle, where Eodice (4:40.12), Ward (4:47.49), and sophomore Dylan Grouser (5:05.34) matched Bridgewater-Raritan’s previous 1-2-4 placements.
While the Panthers’ lead was cut to 66-44, they set themselves up after the 200-yard freestyle relay.
Suciayahdi, Forget, Rydberg, and Wasko (1:27.44) edged Hillsborough’s ‘A’ lane of junior Evan Minakas, senior Tiago Granados, Ward, and Eodice by just 0.47 seconds to grab first place. Carranza Cordero, Joshi, Quevedo, and Buniowski then collected a bronze medal (1:32.95) by just under two seconds to give Bridgewater-Raritan a 76-48 lead.
The Panthers officially clinched their first state championship since 2017-18 after the 100-yard backstroke, which saw Roy (50.60 seconds), Cervino (53.22 seconds), and Meyer (55.15 seconds) produce another 1-2-4 finish.
“Everybody on this team has been putting work in every aspect of their lives this season and before they were even in high school,” Meyer went on to say about the Panthers’ dream season, which saw their lone sub-100-point performance come in a 92-78 road victory, January 20, at Delbarton School: New Jersey’s third-ranked boys’ swimming team and a fellow state finalist along with Bridgewater-Raritan. “They have been swimming since they were kids, and to reach this point is amazing with the amount of work that has been put in, the dedication that everyone has had, and the motivation everybody gives to this team.”
“Everybody is insanely committed, and it shows with an outcome like this.”
Suciayahdi (59.57 seconds) and junior Nate Wong (1:00.96) then delivered first and third place finishes, respectively, in the 100-yard breast stroke, which saw Enriquez (1:02.38) tally fifth place to get on the scoreboard in what ended up being his final race as a Bridgewater-Raritan senior. Leading 98-58 at this point with the outcome already sealed, the Panthers put an exclamation point on their dominating season with 10 more points in the 400-yard freestyle relay.
Wasko, Rydberg, Roy, and Lee: a quartet of returning All-State swimmers from one season ago, touched the wall first at 3:11.00, while Stasiulaitis, Carranza Cordero, Forget, and Meyer took third place (3:19.48) to round off the Panthers’ scoring.
“I have to give a huge shoutout to everyone up there,” credited Meyer of the Panthers’ faithful, who all remained in the rafters of the Neptune Aquatic Center long afterwards to celebrate Bridgewater-Raritan’s historic achievement. “They support us along the way and have been to every single meet.”
“We could not have done it without them.”
This also marks the second state championship in three school years won by Seavey and boys’ swimming assistant coach Max Newill, who led the Panthers’ baseball team to the 2024 NJSIAA Group 4 state championship with Seavey as his chief assistant.
Not only did the boys win a state championship on Wednesday morning, but as part of a dual state finals appearance for Bridgewater-Raritan, its third-ranked girls’ swimming team rolled to a victory, 102.5-67.5, over No. 10-ranked Cherry Hill High School East.
For the first time since 2017-18, this gave the Panthers a sweep of the NJSIAA Group A boys’ and girls’ swimming state titles.
“We’ve said from the beginning that we’re a program,” reflected about Bridgewater-Raritan’s dual state trophies by Seavey, who coaches poolside with Newill, girls’ head coach Chris Levin, and girls’ assistant coach Laura Karns. “Coach Levin is a Hall-of-Fame coach himself, and we’ve learned so much from him. It’s been a great group to work with, be on the side of the pool with, and bounce ideas with every day. I couldn’t be more blessed to have such a phenomenal group of coaches to work with, and it’s been amazing. These two teams have a nice little competitive friendly rivalry between them, but deep down, they both want to see each other succeed.”
“They are so happy for each other today.”
Perhaps this may also serve as the beginning of another dynasty for Bridgewater-Raritan High School swimming to close out the decade, as, according to its online roster, the Panthers currently have five freshmen, eight sophomores, and 11 juniors who are all slated to return next year, along with another solid incoming freshman Class of 2030.
“We need to continue to work hard and remember that this is a team sport,” concluded Stasiulaitis of his team’s season and what lies ahead for the Panthers, who will officially conclude their 2025-26 campaign at the NJSIAA Swimming Individual Championships Saturday, February 28 (preliminaries) and Sunday, March 1 (finals) at the Gloucester Institute of Technology in Sewell. “This team was great, we’re all friends, and we all work hard together.”
“Bus rides feel great when you’re winning.”