First year Hopkinton High School girls swimming coach MaryLauren Burke’s job could be made easier this winter by having 13 returning swimmers on a 16-member varsity roster.

“We have a lot of talent, it’s fabulous to have so many returners,” Burke said. “We also have a couple of new people, so the girls should have a strong lineup this season. I am excited to see them perform.”

Burke, a former four-year member of the Hillers swim program who also competed collegiately at Le Moyne, leads a team with several athletes who competed in postseason events a year ago. Senior Anna Burke qualified in the 100 backstroke in both the sectional and state meets and was a member of relay teams that competed in the postseason. Fellow senior Padmashree Malladi is a skilled returning sprint freestyler who was a key cog in the Hopkinton relay teams last winter.

“She dropped considerable time in the 50 free specifically,” said Burke, an assistant coach on last year’s team. “And she helped our relay teams qualify for the postseason.”

Rounding out a trio of returning postseason swimmers is sophomore Oneli Weerarante.

“She has a lot of potential and is a really well-rounded swimmer,” Burke said. “She is great at the butterfly, and she is someone else who helped us push those medley relays into qualifying for the postseason.”

Added Burke, “All three of those girls were postseason swimmers last year, and I am sure they will be top performers again this year.”

In addition to the returners who qualified for the sectional or state meets in 2024-25, Hopkinton will be buoyed by several swimmers who competed for club teams during the offseason. Junior Caroline Kelly and sophomore Aaruni Moudgal both swam at the club level after the last high school season came to an end.

“They joined those other teams and they put a lot of effort into swimming in the offseason,” Burke said. “We have a lot of girls who are into the year in better shape than they were previously.”

The trend extends to some of the newcomers, including freshmen Yuna Hasegawa and Suchetha Malladi.

“They have a really good, well-rounded background in swimming,” Burke said of the rookies.

Burke said she is looking for her team to be stronger during the dual meet slate than it was last year.

“I am excited to see some of these meets be more competitive,” she said.

The new coach also said her team has a good chance to get several individual athletes and relays back to the sectional and state meets.

“We lost a lot of talent from last year,” Burke said, “but I like seeing how this team is shaping up.”