When Greenwich High School boys swimming and diving head coach Terry Lowe took his celebratory jump into Yale University’s Kiputh pool after a fourth-consecutive CIAC State Open championship, he knew he had sent his unique, but talented, senior class out the right way.
“What a job these guys have done all year,” Lowe said. “They really wrapped it up in style. Taking all three relays, you knew there would be some ups and downs, but for the most part we were up. Whenever the matchups were critical, the kids really came through.
Lowe reflected on the time he had, both short and long, with his group of special seniors following another impressive postseason run for the Cardinals, on their way to the programs 13th state open title since 1999.
Even with very different individual backstories, Lowe says his seniors came together for the gold Saturday one final time.
“It’s a very interesting group, even though our seniors have not really been together that long,” Lowe said. “Some of them came in as sophomores, Alex Jahan just came in this year, Jack Montesi has been a beneficiary for four years, but they’ve all been awesome young men to coach. They give you everything everyday. This is probably one of the nicest groups of young men I’ve ever had to coach.”
Greenwich swept all three relay races on the day, getting things started with the 200-yard medley relay swam by seniors John Montesi, Alexander Jahan and juniors Aedan Lewis and Conrad Moss. Their time of 1:33.52 was two seconds faster than the next placing team and the Cardinals edged their seed time to take their first gold medal of the day.
“We’ve been preparing for this day ever since the season started,” said Jahan. “The entire season was dedicated to today.”
Along with being part of the top-placing 200-yard medley, Jahan clinched a silver medal in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 1:53.28 and defended his state title in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 56.66.
“I think Jahan has really enjoyed the team experience,” said Lowe. “He really contributed to the team. I think the team boosted him up just as he boosted the team up. That breaststroke is something he holds very near and dear to his heart.”
Another superb senior, Montesi, took home a collection of hardware as he defended both his 100-yard butterfly and his 100-yard backstroke titles with respective times of 48.32 (a new state record) and 50.40.
He also led the 400-yard freestyle relay with Nick Handali, Patrick Clisham and Nick Hyden to take home the gold again for Greenwich.
In the 50-yard freestyle event, Hyden placed fourth and Moss finished tenth. Hyden, a senior, also took home a silver medal in 100-yard freestyle with a time of 46.59 and played a key part in the final two relays for Greenwich.
“Four years swimming for Coach Lowe is a long time,” said Hyden. “Having my time to place in these events and eventually winning the title is very, very rewarding. No one comes out as consistently as we do. Our practices are rigorous, but it all pays off in the long run. We went to Puerto Rico for a week and a half, which was grueling. When we come back from that trip we’re ready to go for championship season, and here we are again.”
The Cardinals used their nine-day trip to the Albergue Olimpico training center in February to prep for another postseason runner and can now raise another banner for Big Red.
In the lengthy 500-yard freestyle, GHS freshman Stephan Todorovic placed 10th with a time of 4:45.49.
In the diving portion of the state opens that took place Thursday, a pair of sophomores in Devon Satir and Sergei Shaw netted a combined 34 points for Greenwich before Saturday’s swimming events took place.
Despite trailing heading into Saturday’s action at Yale’s Kiputh Pool, the Cardinals left no question as they took care of business, putting up a team score of 575.5. Pomperaug (371.5), Chesire (359.5) and Darien (347) battled for the next top spot on the day.
“As a group of seniors, they’ve never lost,” added Lowe. “And even though Nick (Hyden) came in as a sophomore, he’s finishing second in the 100 freestyle today. Joshua King was with us as a sophomore and he came back as a senior. They really pulled through and upheld the legacy.”
To read more times and places from the CIAC sate open championship, check out Friday’s Greenwich Sentinel.
