Lynn’s friendly rivals gear up for city swim meet

The term “friendly competition” can seem like a bit of an oxymoron at times, but it fits the bill when the event in question is the annual Lynn City Swim Meet.The passion surrounding the event is clear the minute you walk through the door to the Tech pool. The stands are packed with screaming fans from all three Lynn schools. The walls are covered with signs and banners and the general atmosphere is just crazy as Tech, Classical and English swimmers battle for the city title.Despite the intensity, the other thing that becomes apparent right off the bat is that everyone’s having fun and win or lose, they’ll all be laughing when the best part of the night comes along – the traditional tossing of the coaches into the pool. That’s usually followed by the swimmers going out to eat and the coaches finding their own post-meet sanctuary where they can rehash the night, their seasons and whatever else comes to mind.This year’s Lynn City Swim Meet will be held Saturday at Tech with the festivities beginning at 5 p.m.Given the history of the meet, the level of camaraderie among the swimmers from the three teams is strong. Tech coach Brad Tilley, whose team won the title last year, has been involved in Lynn swimming for 33 years.Tilly’s coaching staff includes Charlie Rowe, John Hogan and Katie Hogan. Denise Silva’s assistant is Christina (Barry) Collella and Duncan’s assistant is her sister, Michelle Conlon. Don McKenney is the diving coach for all three teams.Tilley said the late Peter Sawin, considered the dean of Lynn swimming, founded the meet 42 years ago. At that time, all three schools swam together and at the end of the season, they would hold the meet with the swimmers competing for their individual schools to determine a city champion.Eventually, because the schools weren’t under the same headmaster, the team was forced to break up with each school fielding its own team. Tilley said Sawin coached English, he coached Classical and the two split time coaching Tech, which had fewer swimmers. Even with the change, the city meet remained an annual event.”It’s just a great atmosphere,” Tilley said. “It’s all very congenial. Everybody coaching in the meet was a part of Peter Sawin’s program at one time, either as a swimmer or (in Tilley’s case) a coach ? Maybe that’s why it’s so dear to us.”Tossing the coaches into the pool isn’t the only tradition associated with the meet. All three teams hold a team dinner the night before or a couple of nights before the meet. Before the start, seniors from each team dump “Lynn win” water into the pool. Tech’s water is blue, Classical’s is green and English’s is red. The seniors are presented flowers and each one dives through a hoop.Silva, who is in her 20th year of coaching, said the City Swim Meet is Sawin’s dream come true. Sawin died in 2002.”I believe when we do it every year, it’s as a tribute to him,” she said. “It brings the swimming world together. There’s total camaraderie.”Silva said when all three teams are together, competing, the enthusiasm is even louder than the trains that rumble by Tech.”The place is just rocking,” she said, adding that this year’s meet should be a good one.Silva said the meet is also a nice sendoff for the seniors.Duncan said she’s hoping this year’s meet will feature a lot of close races.”It’s a night of festivities and there’s a lot of fun between the three Lynn schools,” Duncan said.According to Rowe, each team won the city meet three times from 1969 until 1977. English won it for 19 years from 1978-1996 and Classical won it the next 12 years. Tech won it last year, the first time since 1976.