ITEM PHOTO BY KATIE MORRISON
English’s Katie MacDonald prepares to embark on a dive.
By KATIE MORRISON
LYNN – Swimming is one of those sports that often flies under the radar. But for at least one day a year, swimmers from Lynn Classical, and Lynn English and Lynn Tech are the center of attention.
The 48th annual Lynn High School City Swim Championship was held on Saturday, with swimmers from all three schools showing off their skills in front of a packed house at the Peter Sawin Natatorium at Lynn Tech.
Classical came out on top, edging English, 150-124. Tech came in third with a score of 53.
Winning is obviously important for every team and swimmer. But there’s an atmosphere around the Lynn City Meet that’s hard to describe. It’s almost like a family playing a football game on Thanksgiving. Everyone is competitive, everyone wants to win, but there’s a sense of camaraderie between the three teams that makes winning seem almost secondary. Almost.
“We all want to win, we truly do,” said Classical coach Denise Silva. “But once the race is over, we’re cheering for everybody else. It’s sincere. “Yeah, I love to win and everything, but what I really love is just this whole camaraderie. It’s like a community. We’re not just throwing that around as a word. It’s true.”
The Lynn City Meet was started by former Lynn swim coach, Peter Sawin, almost half a decade ago. Since then, it’s grown into an event filled with tradition. The opening ceremonies are as fun to witness as the meet itself. All of the seniors from the three teams are introduced and dive into the pool through a hoop bearing their school’s mascot. They also toss colored water (representing their school’s colors) into the pool, playing off an old tradition of pouring water from your home pool into the visitor’s pool.
The senior ceremonies are emotional for each and every coach, but the day hit Silva especially hard. In addition to her 14 other seniors, she had to say goodbye to her daughter, Briana, who she’s coached throughout her high school career.
“It was an emotional day from the time I woke up, thinking about it. It pulled on the heart strings,” said Silva.
Classical has the biggest senior class of the three schools with 15. Tech will graduate nine seniors, with English sending off seven.
“They all mean the world to me, not just in the pool but in general,” Silva said of her seniors. “They’re terrific people. I’m going to miss them a lot.”
“This is one of the nicest group of kids John (Hogan) and I have ever coached,” said Tech coach Brad Tilley. “I’m just so proud of all of our kids, they work so hard, and I have nine seniors leaving but we have a good core group that’s really excited.”
English coach Lisa Trahant is saying goodbye to some talented swimmers, but is excited for what the future holds.
“I am so happy with our season, we had the best we’ve had since I started coaching, a great group of kids,” said Trahant. “We have a young class and we’re going to keep working. I’m so happy with how the team did, and it was a great meet. We’re going to come back strong next year, and if we swam the way we did this season, we’ll have a strong season.”
The meet was filled with plenty of highlights, one of which was Classical diver Sarah Sirois re-breaking her pool record, scoring a 278.10. Her teammate, Alex Pedro, came in second (180.05) and Tech senior Francisco Fresco placed third (165.40).
The meet started off on an exciting note, with the English 200-yard medley relay team of Uajda Musaku, Peter Phelan, Matt Bruno, and Brandon Musaku (1:56.14), just barely beating out Classical’s team of Kevin Chasse, Eric Macorri, Mehdi Bakhouch and Harrison Seitz (1:56.64).
Bruno had a big night, winning the 200 freestyle (2:06.12), with Classical’s Carly Mendonca following close behind (2:07.20) and Tech’s Nick Westin taking fourth (2:11.28)
English freshman Phelan won the 200 individual medley (2:25.23), with Macorri coming in second (2:33.85).
Chasse topped off his terrific regular season with a win in the 50 freestyle (23.31). Pedro placed second (26.60), and Tech’s Jaleem Alicia came in fourth (28.32).
Bruno added another first-place finish in the 100 butterfly (1:01.31), beating out Mendonca (1:05.28). Chasse then won his second of the night in the 100 freestyle, (51.26), topping English’s Brandon Musaku (51.67). Macorri (5:58.21) edged out Westin (6:04.81) in the 500 freestyle.
Classical’s strong performances in the final two relays sealed the win for the Rams.
The 200 freestyle relay of Simon Kazimiercyzk, Pedro, Craig Mordaunt, and Chasse (1:41.38), beat out English’s team of Uajda Musaku, Kylie Moorhouse, Emma Trahant and Shanel Turransky (1:54.19). Brandon Musaku (58.37) topped Kazimiercyzk (1:07.35) in the 100 backstroke, and Phelan earned his second win of the night in the 100 breastroke (1:16.74), beating out Classical’s Cameron Marcinko (1:19.90). But the 400 freestyle relay team of Macorri, Mendonca, Mordaunt and Seitz (3:59.39) topped the English team of Caroline Zuffante, Phelan, Bruno and Brandon Musaku (4:16.39). The Tech team of Westin, Edgar Ortega, Alicia and Carlos Gonzalez had a strong showing, finishing fourth.
All three coaches echoed the same sentiment; no matter the score or the order of finishes, an event in which these swimmers can have one night to come together as a family and cheer each other on is something that not many cities have, and it’s always a special night.
“Peter Sawin was well-represented tonight,” said Silva. “He’s up there smiling down upon us.”
