Boys’ swim and dive smashed Reading 93-76 at home Friday, Jan. 17, continuing the team’s strong winning streak with successful times that broke school records.
Senior Quinn Caputo beat two school records in this meet, including the 200 individual medley with a time of 1:55.29 and the 100 backstroke with a time of 52.53, adding to his recently earned school record of 100 fly, which was 52.06. The pool was full of cheers and excitement after he beat both records. His swims were nothing short of extraordinary. His strong starts, giving him an early lead, were followed by his masterful strokes, turns, and strong finishes, which allowed him to beat the records.
“It’s pretty incredible beating the records, especially with a bunch of friends in the stands,” said Caputo. “It’s been a surreal season, and it’s really fun to swim with these guys,”
The meet started with diving that included the three divers, senior Clarence de Medeiros, a captain along with seniors Cody Wong and Jan Shek, freshman Teddy Freeman, and junior Braden Friree, scoring 286.65, 142.6, and 116.625 respectively. Each diver performed six dives showcasing their impressive skills.
De Medeiros had great dives for his 105b forward two-and-a-half somersault pike, degree of difficulty 2,6, which scored him a 7.5 and an 8 as well as his fourth dive, a 403 inward 1.5 somersault pike degree of difficulty, 2.4 which earned him a 7.5 and 7.5. Both dives had strong power off the springboard with a tight form and solid entries with minimal splash.
“I did alright at this meet. I’ve definitely made progress throughout the season, but I’ve got a long way to go,” added de Medeiros. “I can do a lot better at the end of the season so I’m excited for those later meets.”
North automatically secured first, second, and third place for diving due to the absence of Reading’s dive team, earning the Tigers an early lead of 13 points.
The 200 medley relay marked the start of the swim portion. The team continued its impressive start as freshman Chip Chicoski, junior Zach Levinsky, and sophomores Ryan Dell and Seb Huculak placed first with a time of 1:49.46.
Following the medley relay came the 200 freestyle, 200m individual medley, and 50 freestyle. According to counselor Partick Manning, the head coach, Wong was a hundredth of a second away from beating the school record of 22.21 for the 50 free.
At the halfway point of the meet, a short break allowed swimmers to warm up for their upcoming events. At this point, North had doubled Reading’s points, scoring 51-24.
The competition continued with the 100 fly, 100 freestyle, 500 freestyle, 200 free relay, 100 backstroke, and 100 breaststroke. During these events, six swimmers qualified for States and Sectionals, with junior Aidan Furong and Levinsky going to sectionals for the 100 free, junior Miles Scheifer for the 100 fly, and Dell for the 100 breast. For States, Wong and Caputo qualified for the 100 breast and 100 back, respectively.
The final event was the 400 free relay, where North swam to first place with a time of 3:38.71. When the official announced the final score, the Tigers erupted in cheers, celebrating their win.
This meet added to the Tigers’ undefeated season. According to Wong, this winning streak is very unusual for the team. For the past few years, the team has only been able to win a couple of times during the whole season, so the team has felt great about the turnaround.
As the season comes to a close, the Bay State Conference, Sectionals, and States are in the postseason. The team has high hopes for the upcoming BSC.
“For BSC’s for this year, I think we can win because we’ve beat everyone,” said Shek. “As long as everybody shows up and tries their best, we’ll definitely be up there if we don’t win.”
North, 7-1, lost in the first round of the Bay State Championship. The Tigers will attend a “Last Chance” meet Friday, Jan. 31 at home.
