Delayed Start No Problem for Lake Isle and Torres at Counties

After Day 1 of competition was canceled due to thunderstorms, swimmers from all over Westchester were finally able to jump in the pool and compete Tuesday afternoon, officially kicking off the 2011 Westchester County Swimming Championships at the Playland pool.

Competing according to a revised and restructured schedule – which saw Monday’s events divided up among the remaining three days of competition – many athletes present on Tuesday were asked to swim in multiple races, making for a fun and busy afternoon for all involved.

One team that got off to a fast start on Day 1 of the “Counties” was Lake Isle, who crowned two Westchester County champions on Tuesday and seem poised to make a strong push towards defending their overall team title this week.

Setting a strong tone for the rest of the day, Lake Isle’s team of Nick Torres, Lucas Quinones, Aidan Bowers and Ryan Maierle placed first in the 10 & Under boys 200 Yard Medley Relay, finishing in a time of 2 minutes and 29.44 seconds, a full ten seconds ahead of second place finishers Greenburgh. Torres gave the team a significant lead after the first leg of the relay, before Maierle – employing a bit of self-motivation – slammed the door shut on his pursuers and secured the County title with a strong finish.

“I always picture someone in front of me, as a rabbit, and I just try and keep on going as fast as I can until I touch the wall,” Maierle said. “When I saw Aidan [Bowers] coming in, my heart was beating as hard as it possibly could. All I was thinking was to kick and pull my arms as fast as I could.”

For Torres, the relay’s first-place finish would only be the start of a very successful Day 1 of Counties, as he swam in total of five races Tuesday, including the finals of the 10 & Under boys 50 Yard Freestyle which he won in a time of 28.68 seconds. Maierle finished third in that same event with a time of 30.65, contributing six more crucial points towards Lake Isle’s team total.

Torres also combined with older swimmers Brian Chrystal, Charles Lazaroni and Dawson Galluzzi to place third in the 13 & Under boys 200 Yard Medley Relay. Lazaroni later placed sixth in the 13 & Under boys 200 Yard IM in a time of 2 minutes and 28.61 seconds.

This week’s County Championships are the first of Torres’ young but already blossoming career, although Lake Isle Head Coach Kevin Lavelle admits to seeing no signs of the jitters on his part. 

“Nick [Torres] had a great night,” Lavelle said. “He swam five times Tuesday, which is pretty impressive as a 9-year-old. I can’t wait to see how he does the rest of the week. I think he has a chance of finishing pretty high in each of his next three individual events and the other relays he is in.”

Also contributing to Lake Isle’s strong start to the County meet was the team of Sora Shiraishi, Chris Fischer, Rory and Kennon Declan, who placed second in the 17 & Under boys 200 Yard Freestyle Relay in a time of 1 minute and 37.32 seconds. On the girls side of the meet, the quartet of Yuma Kase, Georgia Lazaroni, Yuha Kase and Theresa Pace finished third in the 13 & Under 200 Yard Medley Relay with a time of 2 minutes and 11.23 seconds. Yuha Kase also placed sixth in the 12 & Under girls 50 Yard Butterfly.

Another local team in action at Playland on Tuesday was the Bronxville Field Club, whose swimmers made a strong showing despite tough competition and a longer meet format than usual, something Head Coach Jessica Knapp said takes a toll on more than just her athletes.

“I would say it was business as usual, but the addition of events from Monday made the meet stretch out longer than the swimmers were used to, which makes it tough for some of the older swimmers who are doing individual events with a relay in between,” Knapp said. “I think it’s actually harder for the parents, who have to change their schedules and get everything organized for a longer evening. Last night we were responsible for timing a lane for the entire session, and our parents really stepped up and decided on a rotation without much input from the coaches which was really appreciated. We were free to focus on the  kids and their races.”

The Bronxville Field Club qualified swimmers for three finals on Tuesday, including an 8th place finish by Kate Amar in the 10 & Under Girls 50 Yard Freestyle, a 7th place finish by the team of Aidan Flannery, Andrew Babyak, John Marshall and Jack Reilly in the 13 & Under boys 200 Yard Medley Relay, and a 5th place finish in the preliminaries of the 17 & Under boys Freestyle Relay by the quartet of William Wrotniak, Patrick and Micheal Conaton, and John Flannery.

Other top local finishers included Tim Buttigieg of Siwanoy Country Club, who finished fifth in the 14 & Under boys 100 Yard Backstroke event in a time of 1 minute and 1.88 seconds. The team of Margaret Fenniman, Victoria Tillman, Elizabeth Chiulli and Kristen Sohr from the Leewood Golf Club just missed out on a podium finish in the 10 & Under girls 200 Yard Medley Relay, finishing in ninth place in a time of 2 minutes and 45.79 seconds.

After Tuesday’s opening day of the County Championships, Lake Isle currently sits atop the boys team scores with 63.5 points, while the team is third in the combined team scores with 78.5 points, trailing only the teams from Chappaqua and Greenburgh. With two days of competition left, and many more points to be earned and lost, Lake Isle Coach Kevin Lavelle is counting on yet another exciting finish to the County meet.

“We were very glad to finally get the meet underway,” Lavelle said. “I am happy with there we are. I knew it would be tough this year and I figured it would be close between us and Greenburgh. The early leaders, Chappaqua, are a surprise but they have some really fast swimmers and have a great chance to be in the mix all week. We will just keep swimming hard and see how it all ends up.”

All teams are back in action later today at the Playland Pool starting at 4 p.m.