For a few early events during Wednesday’s CIAC class LL championships, the Greenwich High School boys’ swimming and diving team were in a close competition.
Then Big Red pulled away with stellar swims, three state records and a deep roster, winning the event at the Wesleyan University pool with 787 points.
“Every win is a gem of its own,” GHS head coach Terry Lowe said. “This one was really a gem. At the highest levels, we did a great job. Montesi with two records, Jahan with two wins and a record, Hyden came up with a victory. At the top we did everything that we hoped we could do.”
The next closest team was Cheshire High School with 600 points. In third was Fairfield Prep with 523.5 points and Glastonbury was fourth overall with 423.5 points. Rounding out the top five was Ridgefield High School with 396.5 points.
“This feels great,” GHS senior Alex Jahan said. “This is good preparation for the state open meet. We have been training for this time of the year all season and to do this today is great. It’s exciting and I’m looking forward to Saturday. This was a great team effort. The swimmers came in here today wanting to win.”
Through three events, it was Greenwich holding a top score of 189, with Ridgefield second with 142.5 points.
Helping Big Red get the ball rolling was senior Alex Jahan in the 200-yard individual medley. Taking control of the event from the start, Jahan touched the wall first overall, posting a time of 1:52.18 and was just over two seconds faster that Amity’s Adam Ambrosey for second place.
In addition to Jahan, junior Aedan Lewis grabbed ninth overall with a time of 1:54.24 and freshman Stephan Todorvic snagged 10th with a time of 1:57.45. Senior Joshua King took home 11th on the day, netting a time of 1:59.30.
The Cardinals blew the doors open starting in the 50-yard freestyle, as senior Nick Hyden took second overall with a time of 21.84 seconds and Conrad Moss finished fifth with a time of 22.20. From there it was back-to-back top swims for Greenwich.
No one was better than Jack Montesi in the 100-yad butterfly, as the GHS senior took home a time of 48.41 that blistered the competition and broke his own state record of 48.98 from last year. Corey Gambardella from Branford/Guilford took second, posting a time of 49.78.
“I felt really good out there and I’ve been training hard all season,” Montesi said. “Thanks to my teammates, my parents and my coaches who helped me succeed today and have a great meet. It was great breaking my own record, but this was a great team effort and that’s important.”
Another top 10 performance was senior Nicholas Handali, as he finished 10th overall with a time of 53.69.
Not to be outdone was Hyden in the 100-yard freestyle event, as he touched the wall first overall with a time of. 47.12 and edged out Amity Regional’s Colin Roy for second with a time of 47.32. In addition to Hyden’s time, fellow senior Raymond Warner grabbed sixth overall with a time of 49.10.
Moss finished 11th in the 100-yard freestyle, posting a time of 49.80.
And just like that, Big Red’s lead ballooned. Through seven events, it was Greenwich on top with 469 points and Cheshire second with 317.
Both Jahan and Montesi weren’t finished, as they each took home a state record performance later in the meet.
Competing in the 100-yard breaststroke, Jahan blew by the competition and took home a top time of 55.14, beating the old state record by just under a second.
“This felt great and I’ve had my eye on this for the entire season,” Jahan said. “I felt very good in the water and was hoping I could keep it going for Opens on Saturday. I looked at the scoreboard and found my time. As soon as I saw the 55.1, I was so relieved. I had my sights set on the team record and thrilled that I broke it.”
An event earlier, Montesi competed in the 100-yard backstroke, grabbing a time of 48.44 and was over three seconds faster than the next closest swimmer. The time was also good enough for a state record, breaking former GHS stnadout Alex Lewis’ top time of 48.59 in 2014.
“When you have a couple of special swimmers like Montesi and Jahan, it’s a great thing,” Lowe said. “Jack set a pool record in the 50-back leading off the relay and took pool and state record in the fly and back. Then he leads off a 400-free relay with a :45. You can’t ask for much more than that.”
One of the pleasant surprises for Big Red was in the 500-yard frreestyle event, an event Greenwich traditionally isn’t that strong in. Todorvic, who already had a top 10 time in the individual medley event, took to the pool in the longest event of the day and finished fifth overall, posting a time of 4:46.88.
“If anybody told me a couple of weeks ago that we would have somebody up on the awards stand in the 500-free, I would have laughed,” Lowe said. “The 500-free has been our Achillies heel all year, so to get someone in that position and know that he’s going to be at Opens is really special.”
Another solid swim came from Patrick Clisham. The GHS junior finished the day sixth in the 100-yard butterfly, posting a time of 52.35. In addition, Clisham took home seventh in the 200-yard freestyle, touching the wall with a time of 1:46.04.
The Cardinals started and finished the class LL meet in grand fashion. Competing in the 200-yard medley relay, the foursome of Montesi, Lewis, Jahan and Moss grabbed the victory, posting a time of 1:33.58, nearly two seconds faster than Fairfield Prep.
In the final event of the day, the 400-yard freestyle relay, Montesi, Handali, Clisham and Hyden once again built a big lead and came away with a top time of 3:08.85.
During the CIAC class LL diving finals that took place last week, Greenwich fared well. Sophomore Devon Satir placed second overall, netting 455.50 points. Not to be outdone was fellow sophomore Sergi Shaw, who finished the event eighth on the night, taking home 357.65 points.
The Cardinals will be back in action Saturday afternoon when they travel to Yale University for competition in the CIAC state open championships.
“I think we need to do a little better,” Lowe said. “We will see where the cards fall, but I expect it will be a close Opens. Darien will be there and so will Pomperaug. Darien is ahead of us in diving by 73 points and that’s a lot of points to make up. We expect it to be a tough meet Saturday.”
