Brandt Leads Panthers in the Pool

1/31/2025

First-year varsity swimmer Tjorven Brandt ’26 has wasted little time making waves in the pool, leaving a trail of smashed records in his wake.

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At a meet against visiting Canterbury on January 15, Brandt eclipsed team and pool records in the 200 IM, clocking in with a scorching time of 2:03.82. The effort bested the previous school and pool records by 2.93 seconds and 0.96 seconds, respectively.

“In the 200 IM, I always try to use my strengths in the breaststroke and to push my limits, especially in the final stretch,” Brandt said. “The difference was that I wanted to do it for the Masters team — knowing I was racing for something bigger than myself gave me extra motivation, and it worked.”

Against Horace Mann on December 13, Brandt recorded a time of 1:03.20 in the 100 breaststroke, besting the School's previous record by 3.70 seconds. He rounded out the record-breaking stretch in the 200 medley relay in a meet against visiting Ardsley on January 27. Swimming alongside teammates Jem Furniss ’25, Erez Erkal ’26 and Andrew Wang ’26, Brandt helped the relay notch a time of 1:47 for a new team record.

“I hope we can make swimming more famous,” Brandt said of his motivations. “You really have to be at one of our meets to feel the energy — it's overwhelming in the best way possible to be part of this swimming family. Moving forward, when we can keep that energy, we'll improve and set personal bests automatically.”

Both the boys and girls teams excelled in the meet against Canterbury. The boys secured an 81-41 victory, while the girls won, 85-60.

For the girls, Jules Jorsling ’29 (500 freestyle/50 freestyle), Tereza Horvatova ’25 (100 backstroke), Maddie Barnes ’26 (100 breaststroke), Jisella Jorsling ’28 (200 freestyle) and Emma Casey ’28 (200 IM) all recorded first-place finishes. For the boys, outside of Brandt, Alex Pinnock ’25 (50 freestyle), Erkal (100 butterfly/100 backstroke), Furniss (100 freestyle) and Max Sahi ’29 (500 freestyle) placed first in their respective events.

“The key to the overall solid performance was each swimmer wanting to show up and try their best for their teammates,” coach Rachel Noach said. “The team captains — Furniss, Dylan Glaser ’25, Horvatova and Annadele Dyott ’26 — also do a great job in leading the team and leading by example both in and out of the pool.”

The Panthers will aim to remain sharp as the season wraps up over the next month.

“The expectations for the team are to keep working hard at practice, trying their best at meets and encouraging their teammates along the way,” Noach said. “Every race matters, so as long as each swimmer puts their best foot forward, I’m sure we are going to have a great season until the very end.”