The Patriots Boys Varsity Swim and Dive team placed third out of twenty-five schools present at the Section XI Championships last week, a significant shift from their disappointing meet performance during the regular season.  The team went 2-5 during the regular dual meet season, the same record as last season, despite a significantly more advanced roster of swimmers.  The team was also graced with a first-place victory in the 200 freestyle relay, anchored by sophomore Vinny Vinciguerra, who completed the meet with a school record-breaking time in the 100 freestyle of 47.22 seconds.  The 200 freestyle and 400 freestyle relays qualified for the States meet in March, a significant standard that has not been reached for years by the team.

This third-place finish means more than what meets the eye.  The boys’ team has been cursed with a lack of significant talent in previous years, since the departure of their 2018 states-winning relay squad.  Ward Melville placed seventh in the 2019 Section XI championships, and sixth in last years’ championships, with only four swimmers even qualifying to swim for the meet.  However, with the addition of notable swimmers and divers such as senior Adam Albert, freshman Sergei Boudreau, sophomore Thomas Miele, junior Ethan Timm, and junior Jacob Wong to the counties team, Ward Melville was able to put up an impressive 238 points, edging out Sachem in the top three by a sizable 38.5 points.

The qualification of the two relay teams for states was a notable team milestone.  Team Captain Muhtar Konar, a member of the team since his freshman year and a swimmer for both relay teams, described the feeling as “different”, writing that his “heart was beating so fast”, and that he “did not know what [he] was doing but screaming.”  The outlook for boys’ varsity swimming only gets better; the team improved this year, but only seems to have good things to come in the future.