The Bedford Bulldogs swim team has already shown Division II foes its bite.

Two meets into the season, Bedford has already had a long list of swimmers qualify for state competition, and in its most recent contest, the Bulldogs nearly swept. The boys won three of four team matchups, and the girls won them all on Friday, Jan. 16.

“The Bedford community has a lot of great swimmers,” said Bedford’s head coach, Jen Cullen. “Teams are shocked at the number of swimmers we have and the depth that we have. It’s kind of shocking to me as well.”

There are 42 Bulldog swimmers, and in the first meet of the year, 12 earned qualifying times for states.

During the Jan. 16 match, the Bulldogs managed seven team victories, sweeping Derryfield, Alvirne and Pelham and splitting with Souhegan, bumping the boys’ record to 9-1 and the girls’ record to 10-0. At the first meet on Jan. 9, Cullen was particularly impressed by the inexperienced members of the team.

“It was really exciting, especially to see the kids that had never even been to a meet before,” said Cullen. “They did the basics that the kids who do this year round have already done before. They did legal strokes and turns, and they did them fast.”

Viviane Baribeau, Hayley Berg, Kelsey Ewing, Jenay Graves and Kelsey Poremba had state meet qualifying times for the Lady Bulldogs in the first meet, along with Cam Bisson, Matt Bolton, Ian Hagen, Steve Masterson, Matt McKee, Matthew Poremba and Milan Sandhu for the boys.

Cullen said it has also been heartening to see the more experienced swimmers work with their younger teammates, and that camaraderie has been a key to the early success.

“That development is really going to continue throughout the season,” she said.

Division II competitors have already taken notice.

“People are saying we are one of the three teams with a chance to win it, and we’re not even a full high school yet,” said Cullen. “It really rekindles the flame for me, and for the kids too. It’s high school swimming at its best.”