Vineland High School Boys Swimming

The Vineland High School swimming and diving program was born in the 1972-1973 school year when Brad Gandee became the first ever Vineland High School swimmer under the direction of John Casadia, Jr. A group of boys followed in Gandee's footsteps the following year, forming the Vineland High School Swimming club. The club competed in eight exhibition meets against varsity programs in the area, accummulating a 5-3 record under Coach Casadia.

The club grew to 15 members by the 1974-1975 season and became a school-sponsored varsity sport for the first time that year. In their first year as a varsity team, the Vineland High School Boys Swim Team went 5-1 in conference meets to win the Southern 8 Conference title and they finished 10-2 overall.

The program began to soar thereafter. As the team continued to pile up conference championships, individual swimmers began to stand out, giving the program even more notorioty. Dave Hart became the first Vineland swimmer to break 50 seconds in the 100 freestyle, swimming a time of 49.60 in the event at the 1977 NJSIAA Individual State Championships. A year later, Chuck Horton established Vineland's first National High School Short Course Meters record, blazing the pool in the 50 freestyle with a time of 24.1 seconds -- a time that stood as the school record until 2004.

In 1983, the Southern 8 Conference became the Cape Atlantic League, but the name change didn't have any effect on the Fighting Clan's performance. Vineland continued piling up win after win, and league championship after league championship. In 1987, the NJSIAA established a dual meet playoff tournament to decide team state champions for the first time, and the Fighting Clan made it all the way to the South Jersey Sectional Final, losing to Cherry Hill East 106-66. The 200 Medley Relay team of Brian Colon, Brian Forrest, Dave O'Donnell and Jim Dallet won the program's first individual state title at the NJSIAA Meet of Champions, swimming to first place in a time of 1:38.45.

The next year, Brett Buonadonna, Brian Forrest, Sean Mullen and Tom Hill combined in the same event to set a new school record (1:37.91), earning the program's first All-America status. Unfortunately for this squad, they finished second at states to a St. Joseph's of Metuchen team whose time of 1:34.46 is still the New Jersey state record. The 1988 Vineland Boys Swim Team also won the program's first ever South Jersey Sectional Championship, defeating Cherry Hill East for the first time before losing to powerful St. Joseph's in the state semifinal. The team repeated as sectional champions in 1989 and Brian Forrest set the program's second national short course meters record, this time in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:05.80. That record was eventually broken by future U.S. olympian Ed Moses.

Vineland won its third and final sectional title under the guidance of Casadia in 1990, again bowing out to St. Joseph's in the state semifinal, but they didn't stop producing at the Meet of Champions. Vineland won a total of four state titles at the Meet of Champions between 1991 and 1992. Class of '91 graduate Brett Buonadonna was the first Vineland swimmer to earn All-America status in two individual events, taking home those honors in the 50 freestyle (21.08) and 100 backstroke (51.63), respectively. It was just Brett's luck that he took second in both of those events to state record-setting swims that still stand today. In 1992, Tom Forrest became to the first Vineland boy to win an individual state championship, capturing the 100 butterfly in a school record that still stands (51.13).

The 1992 season marked the end of Coach Casadia's time at the helm of the boys' program when he took a year off before taking over the girls' program in 1994 (where he won six state titles, including five in a row from 2001-2006). During his time as Vineland Boys' coach, the team won an amazing 17 straight conference championships, a streak during which the Fighting Clan amassed 180 straight conference dual meet wins.

Charlie Gaudio (1993-1996)

Assistant coach Charlie Gaudio took over the boys program in 1993, when the Fighting Clan lost a conference meet (and therefore the conference championship) for the first time since the program's inception. The Cape Atlantic League was won that year by a very talented Ocean City squad.

Gaudio had the program up and running again by the following year, and in 1995 led the Fighting Clan to their fourth South Jersey Sectional Championship. This was also the first time Vineland advanced passed the state semifinals and into the state championship meet, but they were defeated by traditional state power Westfield. The 1995 squad left their legacy on the program in another way, though. Exchange student Angel Prado (Spain) won the program's second individual state championship (100 free - 47.19) and the 200 Free Relay of Mark DePalma, Eric Palughi, Mike Pantalione and Prado won the event in 1:27.19, setting the program's first ever state record at the NJSIAA Meet of Champions.

Jim Dallett (1997-1999)

Jim Dallett came back to coach the Vineland boys for two years in 1997. In 1997, Vineland won their final Cape Atlantic League Championship before falling to emerging powerhouse Holy Spirit in 1998. The 1999 team advanced to the South Jersey semifinals, where they were defeated by Bridgewater-Raritan, but as had become tradition, the Fighting Clan found a way to leave their mark on the state when the 200 Medley Relay team of Matt Mufalli, Mike Shostak, T.J. Biagi and Scott Cowperthwait won the event at the Meet of Champions.

Mike DePalma (2000-2004)

Mike DePalma, another former VHS swimmer with tons of competition experience, took over the Vineland boys squad in 2000. Despite an average regular season, in which the Fighting Clan lost dual meets to Rancocas Valley and Shawnee, the team still defeated Mainland for the Cape Atlantic League American Conference title. Vineland was totally overwhelmed by a powerful Holy Spirit team in the Cape Atlantic League Championship, but bounced back to swim admirably in the South Jersey Sectional tournament, where they were edged by Shawnee in the semifinals.

It looked as if the program was on its way down when the 2001 team not only lost the Cape Atlantic League American conference championship for just the second time since the league split, but also failed to qualify for the South Jersey Sectional tournament for the first time in school history. DePalma wasn't about to let that happen, though, when he led the 2002 squad back to the top. The 2002 team went undefeated in the regular season before being upset by Holy Spirit in the Cape Atlantic League title meet, but crushed every opponent they faced in the sectional tournament en route to the program's fifth South Jersey Sectional title and their second appearance in the state championship meet. The meet could have gone either way on paper, but the Clan was edged by Westfield, 88-82.

Jon Stinson (2005-2006)

It was quite a surprise when former Holy Spirit star Jon Stinson took the reigns of the Vineland Boys' program after DePalma's departure following the 2004 season, but Stinson coached the boys passionately for two years, getting solid performances and a lot of heart out of the squad.

Brian Newton (2007-present)

Data coming soon...