LYNN — The Lynn Classical swim team left it all in the pool Saturday, placing first in seven of 12 events and scoring 132 points to win the 51st Annual Lynn City Swim Meet at the Lynn Tech Field house.
“I am so incredibly proud of every single one of them,” Classical coach Denise Silva said after emerging from a victory plunge into the pool. “This was truly a case of ‘expect the unexpected.’ As coaches, we’ve done the lineup multiple times and a lot of things had to fall in place for us to stay close to English. They are a very talented team and Tech had a lot of great swimmers. I compliment both those teams. My kids truly stepped up. Best times almost across the board. It was unbelievable. Today is the day for the Rams, tomorrow is the day for the Patriots.”
The Rams were led by Carly Mendonca who placed first in every event she swam in including the 100 yard butterfly (1:05.81) and the 100 yard backstroke (1:02.58).
“We had Carly start the day in the 200 medley relay doing backstroke,” Silva said. “She’s our most accomplished swimmer, going to states and sectionals in every event she has swam. She started the meet off there and she was the anchor in the 400 free relay that finished it off for us. I don’t think she even realizes it yet and we won.”
Jacob Lang also had an impressive meet winning the 200 yard individual medley (2:19.6) and the 500 yard freestyle (5:37.06). The Rams also took first place in each of the night’s three relays.
The Bulldogs fell short of a second-straight city crown, but still managed to place first in four events. Caroline Zuffante (2:15.8) won the 200 yard freestyle, Cole Story (27.01) won the 50 yard freestyle and Peter Phelan (1:14.16) won the 100 yard breaststroke. Hannah Trahant, who placed first in girls diving at Tuesday’s Northeastern Conference meet, took first place in diving with a score of (216.8).
“It was a competitive night,” English coach Lisa Trahant said. “It wasn’t the results we wanted but I’m so happy for everyone else because they just gave it their all. It was such a big night for the seniors. All of their races they swam their heart out because they knew it was their last meet. You get sad when it’s people’s last swim but they gave it their all and they should be proud walking out of here their senior year.”
Despite coming in a distant third place the Tigers had a first place finish in Dustin Bloom (1:00.82, 100 yard freestyle). Captain Liam Donovan (2:22.56, 200 yard freestyle) and senior Jin Perdy (100 yard breaststroke) placed second in their events. Tech coach Brad Tilley, who is the namesake of the events trophy the Brad Tilley Cup, was more than proud of the Tigers’ season.
“We won the MIAA Academic award this year for the seventh year in a row,” Tilley said. “I’m very proud of that. These kids are great and they’re all smart kids.”
Once again the night kicked off with a long-standing tradition of honoring all three schools’ seniors. Teams pour a bucket of dye with the schools colors into the pool and seniors dive through hoops decorated with school logos.
“It’s one of the best events in sports because of the comradery of all the kids in the city of Lynn together,” Tilley said. “All the kids care about each other. They were cheering for each other. It’s just great.
“All of these coaches go back together,” Tilley added. “I coached Denise Silva when she was a diver at Classical. Lisa Trahant was at English when I coached all three teams. It’s just amazing, it adds to the whole thing. It really is wonderful.”
