Sports

Summer Swimming Season Comes to an End at Conference Championships

Local swimmers made last week's summer finale a special one, as Lake Isle avenged their loss at Counties to Greenburgh by finishing second overall and Bronxville's Patrick Conaton finished as the Conference's top scorer in the 17 & Under boys division.

Competing against each other for the final time this summer, swimmers and divers from all over Westchester County took to the pool last week, all vying for the top spots in the 2011 Westchester County Swim Conference Championships.

Trials for the meet were held Monday through Wednesday at different locations throughout the County, with the final session taking place on Friday at the Westchester County Club. In each event, an “A” and “B” Final was run, with the top 16 finishers in each stroke and age group contributing points to their overall team score.

In the end, home-field advantage proved to be golden for the team from the Westchester Country Club, who comfortably won the meet with a point total of 857.50. Coming in second place were the boys and girls from the Lake Isle Country Club, who scored 748.50 points and in the process exacted a bit of revenge on rivals Greenburgh, who finished third a mere half a point behind with a score of 748. Only a few weeks earlier, Greenburgh handedly defeated Lake Isle at Playand to win the Westchester County Championships, ending Lake Isle’s run of six consecutive overall team titles.

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“Coming into the meet we knew we were going to be in a battle,” said Lake Isle Head Coach Kevin Lavelle. “Greenburgh won the County Championships and Westchester Country Club (WCC) has many swimmers that were going to win events. I knew our depth would serve us well, which it did, and we are very excited to take second place. This meet comes at the end of a long summer, and sometimes it takes a toll on the swimmers. I’m proud of how well we did and how fast we were able to swim at the end of the season.”

As has been the case all summer, Lake Isle got another stellar performance from 9-year-old Nick Torres, who after going undefeated in all of the team’s dual meets and at the County Championships, won the 10 & Under boys 50 Yard Butterfly and placed second in the 10 & Under boys 50 Yard Freestyle at Conferences. Top four finishers for Lake Isle also included Yuha Kase (second, 12 & Under girls 50 Yard Butterfly), Chris Torres (fourth, 8 & Under Boys 25 Yard Freestyle), Georgia Lazaroni (fourth, 12 & Under Girls 50 Yard Backstroke) and Johi Nonaka (fourth, 8 & Under boys 25 Yard Butterfly).

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Lake Isle also had a strong presence in the relay section of the meet, with the team’s 10 & Under boys 200 Yard Freestyle Relay taking first place, the 8 & Under boys 100 Yard Freestyle placing second, the 17 & Under boys 200 Yard Freestyle Relay taking third place and the 13 & Under girls 200 Yard Freestyle Relay finishing second.

Lake Isle got more good news once the meet over, as it was announced that Head Diving Coach JJ Rogener had been named Conference Dive Coach of the Year, an accolade he wished to share with the entire Lake Isle team.

“It was an honor to receive [Dive] Coach of the year,” Rogener said. “The award is voted on by others coaches, so it’s great to get such recognition from my peers, but it’s easier when you have such a great group of kids like I do. All season, I’ve been impressed by the team’s determination to improve. I couldn’t have asked for a better end to an already great season.”

Bronxville Field Club’s Patrick Conaton was another that put an exclamation point on an already memorable summer at Conferences, as the 15-year-old won two individual titles at Conferences in the 17 & Under boys 100 Yard Freestyle and the 17 & Under boys 100 Yard Backstroke just a few weeks after winning two events at the County Championships.

Conaton – who also swam on Bronxville’s 17 & Under boys 200 Yard Freestyle Relay which finished sixth overall – admitted that getting his first finals win of Conferences went a long way in setting the tone for an overall very successful finale to his summer season.

“It’s kind of like a warm up,” Conaton said about his first final on Friday, the 100 Yard Freestyle. “You get a feel for the water, for the competition, and it just gets you looking forward to the next races. You just want to come here to have fun and swim your best.”

Behind his two individual wins and his relay points, Conaton won the High Point Award in the 17 & Under boys division, finishing the Conference meet with 55 points. He also helped the Bronxville Field Club finish 14th overall in the team standings with 295.50 points.

In all, six Conference records were set at last week’s Championships, including the 14 & Under 100 Yard Backstroke (Bebe Thompson, Scarsdale Municipal Pool), the 17 & Under girls 100 Yard Backstroke (Olivia Jackson, Shenorock Shore Club), the 17 & Under girls 100 yard Breaststroke (Emma Madden, WCC), the 17 & Under boys 100 Yard Breaststroke (Timmy Perley, WCC), the 8 & Under boys 25 Yard Butterfly (William Montesi, New York Athletic Club) and the 8 & Under boys 100 Yard Freestyle Relay (Wykagyl Country Club).

Complete results of the 2011 Westchester County Swim Conference Championships can be found here.


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