During a season in which small rosters have hampered both the Manchester Essex girls and boys swim teams’ ability to pick up victories, the last few weeks can be seen as a bit of a breakthrough.
Over this past weekend (Jan. 27-28), the Hornets participated in the Cape Ann League Championships and saw some incredibly impressive individual performances. In addition to that, both teams also picked up victories against Hamilton-Wenham on Jan. 21 – the first win of the season for the girls, the second for the boys’ team.
Most recently, both teams recorded some noteworthy numbers in the CAL Championships. For the girls’ team, Megan Graeter finished first in the 200 IM (2:17.64) and second in the 100 Backstroke (1:00.15), while Sydney Hemme was first in the 100 Breaststroke (1:14.84) and second in the 100 Butterfly (1:04.95). The 200 Medley Relay team of Megan Graeter, Sydney Hemme, Libby McKinnon and Claire Masters finished second overall with a time of 2:04.39.
Other noteworthy performances on the girls’ side came from McKinnon (5th in the 200 Free, 2:16.19; 4th in the 100 Free, 101.64), Masters (11th in the 50 Free, 30.85; 10th in the 100 Breaststroke, 1:31.51), Maggie Bediz (seventh in the 500 free; ninth in the 100 backstroke, 1:29.00) and Paisley Koeplin (15th in the 50 Free, 33.4; 18th in the 100 free, 1:24.33). The 200 Freestyle Relay team (Bediz, Masters, Koeplin and Hemme with a time of 2:04.24) and 400 Freestyle Relay team (McKinnon, Koeplin, Bediz and Graeter with a time of 4:38.33) both finished fifth overall.
“The girls swam very fast,” explains Manchester Essex swim coach Teresa Holland. “Every single event we either got a best time from the season and in some cases best time ever.”
The boys finished fourth overall in the CAL Championships, boosted by a pair of strong performances from Colin Conway, who finished with times of 2:14.5 in the 200 IM and 1:08.86 in the 100 Breaststroke.
“Colin Conway swam great and got two second places,” says Holland.
Other noteworthy performances for the boys team came from Max Deery (seventh in the 200 Free, 2:16.85; eighth in the 100 free, 1:00.37), Erik Bischoff (10th in the 50 Free, 26.55; sixth in the 100 Butterfly, 1:08.94), Diego Sanson (sixth in the 50 free, 25.41; fifth in the 100 Free, 57.29), James Aloi (fifth in the 500 Free, 6:24.73; eighth in the 100 Backstroke, 1:14.41) and Ben Ochs (29th in the 50 Free, 36.48; tenth in the 100 Backstroke, 1:30.20).
The 200 Free Relay of Bischoff, Deery, Conway and Sanson and 400 Free Relay of Aloi, Deery, Ochs, Sanson both finished fourth at the CAL meet, while the 200 Medley Relay team of Ochs, Conway, Sanson and Aloi finished fifth. Prior to that, both teams were able to pick up wins against Hamilton-Wenham on Jan. 21. The girls won their first meet of the season against the Generals by a 78-73 score. The meet was a nailbiter, with the Hornets up by a 70-69 score heading into the 400 Freestyle Relay.
“Whichever team wins the relay would win the meet,” explains Holland. “It was so exciting. It came down to the very last lap with the swimmers tied. Sydney Hemme did her best time (57.7) to anchor the relay for the win. She touched out the other swimmer to win by .1 of second! It was an extremely gutsy swim by Sydney.”
The Hornets placed first in multiple events against Hamilton-Wenham, including Sydney Hemme in the 200 IM and 100 Breaststroke, McKinnon in the 100 Butterfly and Graeter in the 100 Freestyle and 100 Backstroke. The 200 Medley Relay (Graeter, Masters, McKinnon, Bediz) and 200 Freestyle Relay (Masters, Koeplin, Harper Hemme, Sydney Hemme) teams were also first-place finishers.
The boys earned their second win of the season, winning every single event and defeating the Generals by a 62-17 score. Sanson (50 Free, 100 Free), Conway (100 Breast, 200 IM), Aloi (500 Free, 100 Backstroke), Deery (200 Free) and Bischoff (100 Butterfly) all recorded top finishes, while the 200 Medley Relay team of Ochs, Conway, Sanson and Aloi finished in first with a time of 2:06.6.
One more regular season meet was scheduled for Jan. 31 against Ipswich, followed by the sectional meet on Feb. 10-11. The boys 200 Free Relay is close to qualifying for the sectionals, with the Ipswich meet serving as the last chance for that team to do so. All six members of the ME girls’ team have already qualified for the event.
“Megan Graeter has qualified for seven individual events and will have to decide which two she will swim,” says Holland. “Sydney Hemme has qualified for two individual events. McKinnon, Masters, Koeplin and Bediz will be swimming in the relays. All three relays have qualified.”
