Monument Mountain, Wahconah Post Strong Swims; Spartans Take Two Wins
ITTSFIELD, Mass. - Both Wahconah and Monument Mountain approached Wednesday’s dual swimming meet with more than just the final team result at focus.
Due to the sheer numbers that Monument Mountain has on its roster by comparison, the Spartans were all but assured of the team victory since they were able to field every slot of competition. Instead, both clubs used the meet as a chance to work on more specific areas. Swimmers focused on individual performances, improving in new events, qualifying for Western Mass and beating their previous best times.
“When we come in against a smaller team and we know that we don’t have to stress about the score, usually I mix up their events and they don’t swim in all of their typical events,” Spartans coach Jill Svirida said. “So our goal is to use those races as an opportunity to get a best-time in a non-regular event, or to improve in something that is going to help them in whatever their regular events are. We focus on it like that, and we are always here to race. Short-course meters is something that we don’t practice as a team, so I was really happy with the effort.”
Monument Mountain claimed the top finish in most of the races. Both the boys and girls swept all the relay events, finishing first in the medley relays, 200-yard free relays and the girls 400 free relay. No boys 400 free relay was officially held, as Wahconah did not have enough swimmers available.
On paper it seemed as though the day belonged solely to the Spartans, but there were plenty of bright spots for Wahconah as well.
“A lot of it was about qualifying for Western Mass, and we had three qualifying times today in the 200 medley relay, the 200 free relay and Noah Schweitzer in the 500 freestyle,” Wahconah coach Steve Kolis said. “I was hoping to at least make a statement that we can win races, and we did. We did our best and we at least showed them that we can compete in the same pool as them.”
In the closest finish of the day, Wahconah’s Fred Sears narrowly defeated Monument’s Jack Glantz in the 100 freestyle. Both swimmers were side-by-side pacing through the entire race, before Sears found that last little gear to finish at 1 minute, 1.35 seconds, just ahead of Glantz at 1:04.81. Sam Cyoulski was also right there, closing at 1:04.93 to finish third.
Sears admitted afterwards that he knew his opponent was that close alongside him the entire way.
“Right out of the corner of your eye you can kind of tell that they are there, but you don’t dare look over to lose time,” Sears said. “It is kind of an interesting feeling, because you can definitely push yourself. That was why on the third lap coming down I could sense both of the people next to me, so I started going really hard. On the fourth lap I was completely dead, but it is definitely a good feeling. You are just happy that you won, but you don’t try to show it too much and be cocky.”
Sears also finished first in the 50 free, closing at 27:42. Glantz again finished second with a time of 28:75.
“Freddy Sears came up just short of qualifying for Western Mass in the 50 and the 100, but he swam two good races today,” Coach Kolis said. “Everybody every meet is just trying to beat their time; that is the ultimate goal.”
Another of the boys’ races that came down to a close finish was in the 100 fly. Monument’s Nick Dillon took first place with a time of 1:07.36, just ahead of the 1:11.50 mark set by Wahconah’s Jacob Kunzmann. Monument’s Harry Albert claimed the 500 free at 4:50.46, just ahead of Schweitzer’s second-place finish of 4:51.25.
Kunzman also had a first-place finish for Wahconah, taking the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:13.75. Monument’s Nick Dillon had top honors in the 100 breaststroke, while Harry Albert took first place in the 200 individual medley and Colin Tharp won the 200 freestyle with a time of 2:22.30.
The Spartan girls nearly swept the meet with top-place finishers. Maddy Fife took the 200 IM at 2:48.61 and the 100 backstroke at 1:19.43, while Olivia Rubino won the 50 freestyle at 30.64 and the 100 breaststroke with a final time of 1:32.57. Anna Rubino took the 200 freestyle, Ashley Wellingkemp finished first in the 100 fly and Asa Stone claimed the 500 freestyle with a final time of 5:03.12.
Sabrina Holland had the lone first-place finish for the Wahconah girls, winning the 100 freestyle with a 1:11.79 mark.