For six weeks, the Barrington High School boys and girls swim teams waited for the chance to compete.

Last week, the wait ended. The Eagles responded by powering past teams from Cumberland High School on Tuesday, Jan. 3, and North Kingstown on Thursday, Jan. 5.

The Barrington boys team defeated Cumberland 57-37, and North Kingstown, 61-30.

The Barrington girls team defeated Cumberland 60-34, and North Kingstown, 54-40. 

Barrington High School Coach Sandy Gorham said it was very difficult to keep the teams focused during the long period of time without a meet.

“Because of the schedule, this was the first meet since we started practicing the Monday after Thanksgiving,” Gorham said. “The kids were getting very complacent. It’s hard. We do time trials (in practice), but they don’t have the same energy for inter-squad time trials than they would have against someone else.”

Gorham said his team used the time to focus on some of the swimming details — starts, break-outs, going into and out of turns, relay starts and other areas. 

“You work on those small things… those things are what pays off in the end,” he said. 

Against Cumberland, the Eagles cruised to victories, Gorham said. 

“They kind of swam through the motions,” Gorham said of his teams. 

The coach said some BHS swimmers performed particularly well against the Clippers. He mentioned Keith Hartman. The hard-working Eagles swimmer clocked his best time ever in the 200 freestyle: a 1:51.14.

“We were very happy with that,” Gorham said. 

The energy level improved dramatically when Barrington traveled to the URI pool to square off against North Kingstown. 

“I was pleased because they showed some energy, which I hadn’t seen,” Gorham said. “I was very pleased with both the boys and the girls.

“The NK girls are pretty good. They have a group of young girls, highly motivated. I was telling our girls they were like the young gun-slingers coming into town.”

Michelle Xian swam well against the Skippers. She clocked a 1:01.06 in the 100 butterfly. 

“We’re thrilled with that swim,” Gorham said. 

Meanwhile Lara Tolley finished with a time of 2:20.56 in the 200 IM and a 1:05.31 in the 100 backstroke. 

In the boys race, Jared Lesk recorded his best time in the 100 freestyle, a :51.36. Justin Kuo, a freshman, swam well in the 100 breaststroke, finishing with a time of 1:08.08. And Graham Bennett clocked a 24.56 in the 50 free. 

“Everything else was really solid. Not fast. But really solid times,” Gorham said. 

The Eagles are scheduled to swim against East Greenwich on Wednesday, Jan. 11, at Bayside YMCA at 4 p.m.