OCHS Teams of the Century



Rich Benner OCHS Swimmer of the Century!

By TOM WILLIAMS
Gazette Staff Writer

Ocean City High School set the table for swimming in the Cape-Atlantic League. And the Raiders have had more than their share of success since it started.

For a long time, OCHS was the only school in the CAL with swimming and had to schedule teams like Cherry Hill, Moorestown, Toms River, Wilmington and other larger schools from the tri-state area. And they had to swim home meets in the 15-yard pool (most others were 25) in the high school.

There are five swimmers who have been named to our all-century team in more than one event. And two who won individual state championships. But the most successful and versatile was Rich Benner, an All-American in 1977 and the OCHS Swimmer of the Century. Benner graduated with 16 schools records, many of which held up for more than a decade.

Benner was selected in the 100 backstroke, 200 freestyle and 100 butterfly. The other four double choices are Mike Hamilton, a freestyle sprinter selected in the 50 and 100; Fenton Carey Jr., a 1963 state champion in the breaststroke, was also chosen in the 200 individual medley; his younger brother, Dennis Carey, a distance swimmer who later swam the English Channel, selected in the 200 and 500 freestyle; and Brian Kozakowski, in the 500 freestyle and 200 individual medley.

Heath Muzslay, the other OCHS state champion, was selected in the 100 butterfly. Rounding out the team are Ken Penska and Geoff Wilcox in the freestyle events; T.J. Caine in the backstroke; and Ken Ryan in the breaststroke.

There are, as in a dual meet, three relay teams. The 200-freestyle team is the 1962 state champions – Harry Smith, Jim Simms, Fred Klein and Mike Hamilton. The 400-freestyle team is the school record holders from 1988 – Geoff Wilcox, Charles Wigo, Tres Ostien and Lance Muzslay. And the 200-medley team from 1993 is also a school record holder – T.J. Caine, Darin Chojnacki, Heath Muzslay and John Stauffer.

There were two swim coaches that were highly-successful at OCHS, Fenton Carey and Lloyd Hayes. But the edge for Coach of the Century goes to Carey. He started the program and developed the school’s reputation against much bigger schools. And his teams had to be specialists in turns, since the shorter pool required more of them in each event.

The best single team of the century is the one OCHS team that won the South Jersey championship, the 1961-62 team that was coached by Carey. That team, captained by Mike Hamilton and Hank Schneider, was 12-1. It had three representatives on the all-century team – Hamilton, Carey Jr. and the 200-freestyle relay team of Smith, Simms, Klein and Hamilton.


The All-Century Raider Swim Team
50 Free..........Mike Hamilton (1962), Ken Penska (1967)
100 Free........Mike Hamilton (1962), Geoff Wilcox (1990)
200 Free........Rich Benner (1977), Dennis Carey (1967)
500 Free........Dennis Carey (1967), Brian Kozakowski (1995)
100 Back.......Rich Benner (1977), T.J. Caine (1996)
100 Breast.....Fenton Carey Jr. (1963), Ken Ryan (1965)
100 Fly..........Heath Muzslay (1993), Rich Benner (1977)
200 IM..........Brian Kozakowski (1995), Fenton Carey Jr. (1963)
200 Free Relay: Harry Smith, Jim Simms, Fred Klein, Mike Hamilton (1962)
400 Free Relay: Geoff Wilcox, Charles Wigo, Tres Ostien, Lance Muzslay (1988)
200 Medley Relay: T.J. Caine, Darin Chojnacki, Heath Muzslay, John Stauffer (1993)
Coach Fenton Carey (1956-67 & 1968-70)


The 1961-62 team - Best of the Century
Fenton Carey Jr.
John Dodds
Norman Ervine
Monty Gallagher
Ken Guiles
Mike Hamilton
Fred Klein
Craig Meisenhelter
Hank Schneider
Jim Simms
Harry Smith
Bob Tribit
Paul Yingling
Coach Fenton Carey

Championship Teams

South Jersey titles: 1962, 1932
Overall CAL title: 1993

All-Time Coaches Records
Kelly Mulloy (4 years).....18-31 [.367]
Lloyd Hayes (11)...........122-39 [.758]
Bill Sepich (2)............9-13 [.409]
Al MacIntyre (6).........16-61 [.208]
Bob Young (7) ...........57-43 [.570]
Jim Hutchinson (1).......6-8 [.429]
Fenton Carey (13).......115-33 [.777]