Monument Swimmers Strong in Wins over Wahconah
GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. -- The Monument Mountain boys and girls swimming teams posted a couple of dominating wins on Friday morning at Simon’s Rock.
But it was the stories behind the scoring that excited coach Jill Svirida.
“We’ve been doing a lot of dedicated stroke technique work lately, and I was thrilled, especially with our beginners and our newer swimmers, who don’t necessarily come from a club swimming background,” Svirida said after her teams posted wins of 111-57 (boys) and 120-40 (girls}. “Technique is so vital to their improvement, so we’ve been working really hard on that, and we had some amazing swims.”
Colin Thorp was a double-winner for the boys, taking first in the 50-yard freestyle in a time of 26.31 seconds and the 500 free in 5:46.17.
Four Monument Mountain girls placed first twice in individual events, and the Spartans swept the top spot in all 11 races.
Jenna Codey won the 200 individual medley (2:43.52) and 100 fly (1:12.77). Zoe Holmes took the 200 free (2:11.44) and 500 free (6:02.00). Maddie Fife won the 50 free (27.89) and 100 back (1:10.60). And Asa Stone won the 100 free (59.59) and 100 breaststroke (1:20.49).
But Svirida singled out a swimmer who finished two minutes behind Thorp in the 500 for showing the kind of improvement that she wants from her competitors.
“I don’t know if you noticed our swimmer in the 500 in lane 2 (Nick de Ris), but that was his first 500 ever, first race longer than 100 ever,” she said. “And he’s only been swimming for however long we’ve been in the season. Four weeks? No club experience. Just a beautiful swim.
“And that’s really what we’re looking for right now. From the top level all the way to the beginners -- that everyone has an opportunity to improve their techniques and their times, and so I was really thrilled across the board with how we swam today.”
The Monument Mountain boys joined the girls in swimming the three relays.
Sam Cybulski won the 200 free (2:03.66), Harry Albert won the 100 fly (1:09.58) and Zach Annand won the 100 breaststroke (1:26.66).
Wahconah’s boys got a pair of wins from Fred Sears, who took first in the 200 IM (2:26.06) and 100 free (54.10). Jacob Kunzman won the 100 back (1:07.25).
No wins for the Wahconah girls, but Amelia Bergquist finished a little more than two seconds behind Stone in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:22.97.
Svirida said her squad has shown a lot of dedication in the first month of the season, the kind of work ethic that will pay off down the road.
“We know we have a big battle coming up with Pittsfield [on Jan. 7 at the Boys and Girls Club], so we’ve been looking at putting people in different events and seeing where things shake out and what will be our best attempt against them.”
The Spartans are home again next Friday against Taconic. Wahconah will host Mount Anthony on Friday.