By David Fierro
Contributed photo: Members of the Greenwich High School girls swimming team gather around the championship plaque with their coaches after winning the team title at the CIAC Class LL Swimming Championships at Cornerstone Aquatics Center on Nov. 12, 2024, in West Hartford. The Cardinals cruised to the team title with 1,012 team points.
From start to finish, the CIAC Class LL Girls Swimming Championships was truly a meet to remember for Greenwich High School.
Winning eight events and producing numerous other outstanding performances, Greenwich earned the team title at the Class LL Championships, amassing an eye-opening 1,012 team points at Cornerstone Aquatics Center in West Hartford on Nov. 12. Coached by Brendan Heller, the Cardinals established a record for team points on their way to winning the Class LL title for the 31st time in team history.
The Class LL finals began with Greenwich’s quartet of Julia Kozma, Isabel Guzman, Sena Bozkurt and Sara Jee combining for a winning time of 1:49.72 in the 200-yard medley relay. Fairfield Ludlowe placed second in 1:50.75 and Trumbull took third (1:52.92). In the championship meet’s first individual event, Greenwich junior Wesley Wales won the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:52.32, giving the Cardinals 32 points toward its team total. Cardinals teammate, Ellison Charette, a sophomore, finished second in 1:54.27 and Addison Markoja (Meriden Co-op) placed third (1:54.30). Ainsley Sahrbeck, a Greenwich junior, was third (1:57.27), while freshman teammate Olivia DeVries had a third-place finish in 1:58.10).
Glastonbury finished a distant second in the team standings at the 18-team Class LL Championships (522.5), Norwalk/McMahon placed third (416), Staples was fourth (410.5) and Fitch/Stonington/New London took fifth (392). Ella Gussen of Fairfield Ludlowe won the 200 individual medley Class LL title, touching the wall in 2:05.75. Emma Giafardino of Norwalk/McMahon was the runner-up (2:08.51) and Sarah Kim (Meriden Co-op) took third (2:11.87). The Cardinals scored plenty of points in the 200 IM with senior Emma Stehmann placing fourth (2:11.93), Jee, a freshman, taking seventh (2:14.97), Guzman finishing eighth (2:17.86) and sophomore Isadora Nassa posting a ninth-place finish (2:17.95).
Sophomore Kensington Worden claimed the silver medal for the Cards in the 50 freestyle, registering a time of 24.20, while teammates Lily Norton, a junior, had a seventh-place finish (25.49), senior Katharine Nalepka placed 11th (25.87) and Annalie Whitridge, a freshman was 12th (25.95).
Greenwich had a significant head start and points boost heading into the swimming portion of the CIAC Class LL Championships, thanks to the highly successful performances of its athletes at the Diving Championships, held at Sheehan High School on Nov. 6. Cardinals junior Kristen Jacks captured the Class LL gold medal on the 1-meter diving board, totaling a winning score of 400 points over 11 impressive rounds. Her winning effort gave Greenwich 30 points heading into the swimming portion of the Class LL finals.
Olivia DeVito, also a junior, finished a very close second for GHS, compiling 399.10 diving points, good for 27 points to the Cardinals’ team total. Clementine Whittle placed 10th in the diving finals (306.90). Overall, Greenwich’s divers scored 74 team points with their well-executed dives.
In the 100-yard butterfly, senior Sena Bozkurt claimed the Class LL championship, touching the wall in 55.61 seconds for GHS. Melissa Geiger, a junior, finished in second place, clocking in at 58.33 and right behind her was Kozma, a sophomore, who posted a third-place time of 58.65. Also for Greenwich, senior Garyn Finz was 12th in 1:01.26.
Junior Wesley Wales earned the second-place medal in the 100 freestyle with a time of 51.66 seconds, while her Cardinals teammate, Worden was third (53.00). Norah Eldredge, a freshman, took seventh (55.26) and Nalepka finished 10th (56.03) for GHS, which scored a wealth of team points in the 100 freestyle. Riley Anderson from Manchester was the 100 freestyle champion (50.16).
Charette captured the Class LL gold medal in the 500-yard freestyle. Showing her speed, stamina and endurance, Charette was second to none in the 500 freestyle, recorded a championship time of 5:02.87. Swimming near Charette was Geiger, who proceeded to post a second-place finish in the race (5:05.35). Junior Ainsley Sahrbeck finished fourth in 5:12.68 and DeVries had a fifth-place finish (5:13.73).
Greenwich also had the winning combination in the 200-yard freestyle relay race. Wales, Worden, Charette and Norton combined for a time of 1:38.88, good for the Class LL winner’s medal. Fitch/Stonington/New London was a blink of an eye behind them, clocking in at 1:38.97, followed by Staples (1:41.42). Bozkurt’s second individual Class LL championship came in the 100-yard backstroke. She earned a first-place finish with a time of 57.02. Ella Gussen of Fairfield Ludlowe, a junior, was the runner-up in 58.15, while Kozma (59.77), freshman Annalie Whitridge (1:01.96) and Finz (1:03.84) were fifth-seventh-10th respectively, for the Cardinals.
Stehmann garnered the silver medal in the 100-yard breaststroke, finishing the race in 1:08.27. Guzman was right behind her for a third-place showing (1:08.30) and Jee (1:11.87) and sophomore Ava Burnstine (1:13.50) were seventh and eighth, respectively.
Greenwich put the finishing touch on their extra special Class LL championship meet by winning the final event – the 400-yard freestyle relay. Charette, Whitridge, Sahrbeck and Wales were champions with a time of 3:33.97.
Up next for Greenwich is the CIAC State Open Championships, which takes place on Sunday at Yale University with a starting time of 1 p.m. Greenwich won the State Open team championship in 2023 with 633 points.
