Tahlia Scherer, Blogs Editor
With only a few weeks left, it’s safe to say that this year’s Boys Swim and Dive season has gone swimmingly. The boys are on track to achieve their goal of a three-peat State Championship title. “We had an incredible dual meet season,” Head Coach Kat Munson said. “The team record was 7-3. Our toughest loss was to Ridgefield, one of the top teams in the state, who we fell to by only nine points while missing one of our top swimmers from the meet.”
This season, the boys have been putting in the work in order to place themselves in the best position to face competition both in dual meets and in the championship season. “We have been working very hard in practice as we get into the most brutal stretch of training in the season. We are working to get as many swimmers into states as possible,” said standout junior Deacon Mascarinas.
“In practice the boys have embraced every challenging set that they have been given, and they are working at faster intervals than ever before. There has been especially good attendance at our power practices on the weekends, and we are starting to see the payoff of that work,” said Coach Munson.
In recent dual meets against Danbury, Ridgefield, Fairfield Ludlowe, Westhill, Trumbull, and Wilton, the boys have been defying expectations and making performances that foreshadow a triumphant postseason. In their meet against Trumbull, swimmer Liam Ireland had a standout race, winning the 100 yard butterfly and achieving both a personal best time and an automatic state cut – guaranteeing him a spot to compete in state trials later in the season. Sophomore Everett Trygg was able to shave three seconds off his best time in the 100 yard breaststroke and swimmers Will Baynes and Pepino Jisl have proved themselves to be huge contributors in the 200 yard freestyle event. Sophomore Alex Yuan has been having a noteworthy season as well, cruising into personal best times in the 100 yard backstroke very early in the season. Finally, new team member Chase Maggio, has been a key point contributor on the diving boards these past weeks, following in his sister’s – captain diver Kaitlyn Maggio – footsteps.
In what seems to be a promising foreshadowing of state championships, the boys had dominant performances at FCIACs. Overall, New Canaan placed fifth out of eleven, edging out Fairfield by only a single point. In the 100 yard freestyle, Deacon Mascarinas took 4th place with a time of 47.05. Sophomore Eric Huang took third in the 100 butterfly with an incredible time of 51.72 seconds. The boys finished off the meet with a solid fourth place in the 400 freestyle relay. The results from this meet provide a hopeful glimpse of what is to come for the boys in the following weeks.
Senior captain Jason Pastushan believes his team is focused and ready to take on their postseason. “I think we have a solid shot at winning our third straight state championship and that is the general expectation for the team,” said Jason.
Looking ahead, the team’s focus lies on their postseason and defending their state title for the third year in a row. State trials are to be held March 11 at Cornerstone Pool in West Hartford.
