Isabel Hetherington and Emily Wood
Sports Editors
Despite losing many of their top scoring seniors last year, the girls’ swimming and diving team dominated this season. After their impressive performance in the Fairfield County Interscholastic Academic Conference (FCIAC), the girls continued to prove their strength, placing second in both the Class L state meet as well as State Opens.
Coming into the season after losing many key swimmers, including Cara Egan, Grace Duncan, Adelyn Graf, Ali Rusch, and Emma Tobey, the girls had very big shoes to fill. “After coming off such a great season the past three years, I was nervous we couldn’t live up to the goals we set,” senior captain Meredith Jonker said.
After the loss of many high-point earners, the team benefitted from the influx of a strong class of freshmen ready to make their mark. Freshman Meghan Egan and Libby O’Hare made strong contributions in the 200 yard and 400 yard relay teams, which both placed first in State Opens. “I wanted to show everyone that even though we did not have a lot of people, we were strong and could do whatever it took to touch the wall first,” Meghan said, “I think we did that.”
Libby contributed her success to the motivation brought on by her peers. “Before every one of my races I told myself to do it for the team not for me. I didn’t want to beat my best time anymore I just wanted to beat the girls around me. Hearing and seeing my teammates cheering for me during my race was the best feeling ever. There was one word that Dave [the girls’ swim coach]said repeatedly and it was synergy. Without synergy I wouldn’t have done as well as I did, ” she said.
The Connecticut Interscholastic Academic Conference (CIAC) meet was held on Tuesday Nov. 20, where the Lady Rams celebrated their second place win. Beating out Greenwich, the seven time defending state champions, by only 2.5 points, the girls were swimming to the best of their abilities.
“Just being able to compete for second was amazing, seeing that we only had six kids in our open team. We beat Greenwich for the first time since 1986 and it came down to the last relay. We only beat them by 3.5 points,” junior Jenna Egan said. Jenna pulled through in the 400-yard freestyle relay as the last leg, touching the wall at 3:30.67, beating out Greenwich by milliseconds at 3:30.69.
Jenna took first in the 100-freestyle event in the State meet, and fourth in the 200-freestyle at State Opens, along with finishing first with both 200- and 400-free relays.
Another standout was senior captain Maddie Rusch. After breaking her own record in the 50-butterfly even for 4 consecutive years, Maddie set a new FCIAC record being the first person to place first in one event all four years. “It felt great to win my senior year. I think it was cool that no one has ever done it 4 years in a row, so I think it set a good tone at the meet as well as leaving my mark in the FCIAC swim meet,” Maddie said.
In the State meet, Maddie proved to be a strong asset to the team, as she came first in the 100-butterfly, 50-freestyle and also was a member of the 200-freestyle and 400-freestyle relay. Continuing her streak at State Opens, she placed first in the 50-freestyle and second in the 100-butterfly. “I was very pleased with our overall performance in the championship season,” Maddie said, “Everybody really stepped it up and gave it their all, and that’s all our coaches and captains ask for.”
The Rams not only dominated in the pool, but also on the boards. All three divers who dove in the state open meet placed in the top seven, lead by sophomore Kylie Towbin coming in first. “I was so pleased with this season and I even broke the New Canaan dive record that was set in the 80’s. It was definitely a highlight to my diving career,” Kylie said.
With 436.20 points earned over a total of 11 dives, Kylie placed first, followed by seniors Meredith Jonker and Ariana Ross, who placed sixth and seventh, respectively. “I was so proud of every single one the divers! Meredith Jonker and Ariana Ross are the seniors and I look up to both of them so much, they are such great leaders,” Kylie said.
As the season starts to come to a close, the girls’ swimming and diving team leaves decorated with state titles and unexpected victories. “I had no clue about the amount of success my team and I would have this season, but I couldn’t be happier,” Jenna said. “I am still in complete awe about the season as a whole. I never expected it to go so well.”
