Tech swims to victory in city meet

LYNN – Lynn Tech swim coach Brad Tilley thought that the 43rd annual Lynn City Swimming Championships were going to come down to the final moments of the 400 free relay.Well, it did, in a way.It was the final moments before Tilley took a ceremonial dunk in the Tech pool as the Tigers turned the meet into a showcase for their talents, taking eight first place finishes en route to a third straight title, beating English by some 40 points (143-103) with Classical in third.Click here for a photo gallery.”My coaches and I looked at the numbers and we really thought it was going to come down to the end,” Tilley said. “We had no idea it would be this lopsided but these kids have worked so hard all year and kept getting better and better.”Tech never trailed on the scoreboard from the opening event when it went first and third in the 200 medley relay. In fact, the closest either team could get to the Tigers was through three events after English’s Francis Serwicki won the 200 IM and teammate Matt Bruno was third, closing the Tech lead to seven points (36-29).Tech reassumed control of the meet in the next event, the 50 free, as Victor Vasquez and Antonio Guanci went 1-2 and pushed the Tigers’ point total to 48. From there on, it was a matter of if the Bulldogs or Rams could come home second.Freshman Dayan Gonzalez won the diving and the 100 butterfly for Tech. Vasquez followed with a win in the 100 free, and the 200 free relay of Vasquez, Guanci, Gonzalez and Andrew Guy took a first place that for all intents and purposes ended the hopes of Classical and English.”This is very gratifying,” Tilley said. “It’s nice to see all the hard work the kids put in come to fruition. They practiced for four days during vacation. That’s how dedicated they were to making this happen.”The Bulldogs came in a solid second with 103 points and won the day’s best race as Mike Bruno barely out-touched Guy to win the 200 free by two-tenths of a second. Bruno later added a win in the 500 free to his day.English also was second and third in diving and the meet-closing 400 free relay.Classical got its lone first place from Brian Nelson in the 100 breaststroke. The Rams also finished second in the 200 free relay and got a second from Mac St. Ives in the 100 free and Dhino Bitri in the 100 backstroke.”This really was a great day,” Tilley said. “All three teams came out and gave everything they had. We had a fantastic crowd and a great atmosphere.”