Andrew Morton says he used to be scared of water. Now he’s one of the most feared swimmers in the state.
“When I was a kid, I never wanted to put my head under the water,” said Morton, a junior at Bishop Eustace Preparatory School, Pennsauken.
Persuaded by his parents to get into the water at an early age, Morton still likes to get out of the pool quickly, but that’s because he’s done swimming before all his competitors. Morton is a versatile swimmer who excels at just about every stroke for the Crusaders.
He made history at the South Jersey Interscholastic Swimming Association Invitational on Jan. 24, breaking a nearly two decade-old Bishop Eustace record in the 500-yard freestyle. Morton cruised to a first-place finish in the morning B-Division session with a time of 4:39.24, breaking 2007 graduate Zack Schiavo’s record by a few tenths of a second.
Even Morton couldn’t believe it.
“I knew it was reachable because my time coming into the meet was 4:41.1,” Morton, a Cinnaminson resident, said of his swim. “I thought I was a couple seconds off. [Then] I looked up on the board and saw 4:39.2, and I was really excited. I was really surprised.”
Before becoming a Crusader, Morton spent his first two years at Paul VI High School, helping the Eagles to back-to-back South Jersey Swimming League Bering Sea Division titles.
This year, he and his sister Jocelyn Morton, a freshman, have helped the Crusaders leap out to a 5-2-1 record.
“Andrew has been an amazing addition to our team,” Crusaders coach Stacey Hengst said. “His sister is also swimming with [the school] this year. They’ve both been great. I can put Andrew in any event where I need him to swim, and he’s always willing. You can always count on him to place where you need him to.”
Morton said it was a pretty easy move from Paul VI to Bishop Eustace. “I knew most of the people on the Eustace team because most of them swim at the same club [Jersey Wahoos] as me,” he said. “It’s been a great experience. The team is a little smaller, but it’s still super fun.”
Bishop Eustace’s swimming team is co-ed due to its smaller numbers. In playoffs, they compete in the Non-Public South boys bracket with powerful teams like three-time defending state champ Saint Augustine Preparatory School and Christian Brothers Academy. In the outer lanes, it ultimately becomes a numbers game as the larger schools have an enormous advantage of piling up crucial points.
“It’s been a great season so far,” Hengst said.
The Crusaders received an infusion of talent with freshmen Luke Venuti and Addison Esgro to complement one of the top swimmers in the state – senior Alyce Lehman – as well as a pair of talented juniors: Nina Cosello and Roman Michailovsky. Morton has given Bishop Eustace some extra pop in the middle lanes.
“It’s been fun training with him,” said Lehman, who will swim at Stanford University next year. “I’ve seen him work really hard, and I’m so proud of how far he’s come.”
Morton is hoping to swim in college, but his next destination will depend on his academics more than his athletic future. He is an honors student who wants to pursue either engineering or something in the medical field. His parents are both pharmacists and own Bell Rexall on Haddon Avenue in Camden. He said taking over the family business someday is also an option.
Whatever he decides, he’s not scared to dive in head first.
“My first priority is my studying, but I think swimming will give me a good shot at getting into a good college,” he said.
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