It’s a Busy Week Ahead!

This week we have three meets, starting with Weston and Wilton, which could possibly be the most exciting meets of the season! With our busy meet schedule, as well as the Swim for Haiti on Tuesday, it is extremely important that everybody get plenty of rest, drink lots of water, and eat healthy in preparation for this hectic week. Also, be sure to catch up on any school work you may have due this week, as your time management skills are going to be tested. Thanks, and swim fast!

-Cam, Mac, and Trevor

Wreckers Splash Norwalk

By Julia Friedman

Jan. 29 – The Staples boys swimming team claimed a 105-81 victory at Norwalk on Wednesday, raising its record to 2-4.

Staples was confident going into the meet. WreckersCoach Jeff Share said, “I figured we would win this meet. I don’t ever remember being involved in a meet that we lost to Norwalk and I’ve been with the team now for nine years. We’ve always beaten them so I figured we would. Although I have to say this was the most competitive Norwalk team I’ve seen over the years. I tried to match our guys up so we could get some good fast races, which we did.”

Senior captain Larry Abel won the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:59.92. He said, “I am pleased with my performance. After about half the race, I had pulled a few seconds before everybody and I was able to maintain my pace for the rest of the race.” Junior Michael Goodgame (2:04.90) took second and classmate Steven Siecienski (2:08.56) completed the sweep. Share said, “In the 200-free, we took first, second, and third which was a nice beginning to the individual events.”

Another highlight performance for Staples was freshman Nathaniel Boley (53.08) defeating Norwalk junior John Ospina in the 100-yard freestyle in a very tight race. Boley said, “I was really pleased with that race. I was right on my best time which you really don’t expect halfway through the season.”

Share said, “They were neck and neck through the whole race. Nathaniel just dug down deep and basically just out touched him.”

The Wreckers took the top two spots in the 400-yard freestyle relay, junior Cory Bacon, Goodgame, sophomore Matthew Wisher and Boley (3:45.09) won the race and sophomore Joss Abel, freshmen Marcus Roussi and Matthew Wetmore and sophomore Kyle Bacon (3:49.70) took second.

Staples junior Zachary Slater won diving (216.97). Share said, “He beat out Norwalk’s top diver by .8. It was very close.” Another diving highlight, was freshman Tanner Blank (157.95) qualifying for states.

Although the Wreckers did not have many first place performances, they were able win through their depth. Boley said, “The big key to the day was there weren’t any break-away swims, it was more of a constant second, third, and forth. So when they might have gotten first more than we did, but we consistently were able to put more points up. And that is really the key to winning dual meets.”

Next week, the Wreckers will host Weston on Monday, Wilton on Wednesday and Danbury next Friday. Larry Abel said, “Wilton will be our toughest competition next week. I spoke to the Wilton coach and he put together all the times from both teams, and if everyone was to swim their best time on both teams we would win by five points, which is a small amount. It will be a really close meet.”

Reprinted from The Westport News

Staples Laps Win Over Norwalk

By Todd Kalif

Jan. 28 — For the Staples swim team it’s not about the depth of the pool, but about the depth of the team.

Team depth gave them their second win of the season on Wednesday, a 105-81 victory over the Norwalk High-Brien McMahon coop team.

The coop took an 8-6 lead by winning the first relay, but Laurence Abel, Mike Goodgame, and Steve Siecienski took first, second, and third in the 200 freestyle. Their sweep put the Wreckers up, 19-11, and that was as close as Staples’ depth let the Bears come for the rest of the afternoon.

“We’ve always considered ourselves a really, really deep team,” said Staples co-captain Mac Mombello. “Although we might lose a couple of races where they got first place, we come back and get second, third and fourth or second, third, and fifth and end up outscoring them.”

That strategy proved to be a winner for the Wreckers, who took five first places to the Bears’ seven, gradually stretching their lead in event after event.

Norwalk won the 200 individual medley, but Matt Wisner, Joss Abel, and Sikan He took second, third, and fifth, their points for that event matching the Bears’. The pattern repeated in the 50 freestyle, as Cory Bacon, co-captain Cam Bruce, and Marcus Russi took second, fifth and third, respectively.

Often a team has a shortage of varsity divers, but the teams each had three divers who were both present and talented. Zach Slater, Staples’ top diver, was a bit disoriented after a month of diving only on his home board.

Dissatisfied with his first dives and pressured by Andy Rumore, the fifth-place finisher in last season’s FCIAC championships, Slater’s next-to-last dive was an inward one-and-a-half somersault.

“I was thinking I need to come back after my first two, which were not the best,” Slater said. “This dive I’ve always done my best on. It’s one of my favorite dives and I knew that I had to perfect it in order to pull through at the end.”

Slater pulled through with the top score of the day to take first place. Wrecker Tanner Blank took third behind Rumore and Matt Mirkine took fifth as the Wreckers’ points added up and their lead stretched.

Bacon, Wisner, and Abel took second, third, and fourth in the 100 butterfly, with the 100 freestyle next on the starting blocks. Nate Boley, the lead Wrecker, was trailing by a forearm at the 75-yard mark.

“Off the wall, I took a little glance and saw I was about at his chest,” said Boley. “I had a good underwater on the last turn. When it’s a close race, you’ve got to step it up and just pull it out.”

Boley touched out Norwalk’s Ospina for first place by .48 seconds, and with five events to go, the Wreckers enjoyed a 65-45 lead.

Goodgame and Marcus Russi added points in the 500 freestyle, with the entire Staples bench cheering them on as the long race intensified toward the end.

“We’re shouting for the guy in lane 6 to make sure he’s beating their last guy who’s in lane one over there,” said Mombello. “We just try to make sure that for every place, our guy is beating them. It really, really boosts up team spirit because it’s not necessarily for the guy who comes in first.”

Norwalk took first in the 200 freestyle relay. Abel, Bacon, Scott Feder, and Mirkine teamed up to take second, with Trevor Locke, Siecienski, Mikesh, and Benjamin Freeman taking third.

Boley and Mombello added points for second and third in the 100 backstroke and Abel, Bruce, and Sikan He teamed up for second, third, and fourth in the 100 breaststroke, outscoring the Bears, who won the event and took fifth.

Staples won the final 4 x 100 relay, with Cory Bacon, Goodgame, Wisner, and Boley teaming to finish five second ahead of the Wrecker B team of Abel, Marcus Russi, Wetmore, and Kyle Bacon.

“We did have some solid swims today and it was an exciting meet,” said Staples head coach Jeffrey Schare. “A good border rivalry always generates the heat. Norwalk is a good team. I think they’re going to really surprise some people come championship time.

“I tried to get some of the kids to race against their top kids just to get some really good races out of it and there were a lot of tight ones,” Schare continued. “It brings out the best in all of the kids. At this point in the season, it’s what’s going to be the best for them, heading toward championships.”

Reprinted from Westport Patch

WESTHILL-STAMFORD MEET RESCHEDULED

We have moved the date of the Westhill/Stamford away dual meet to Feb 24th.  This meet was originally scheduled for Feb 8th.

ED is at 1:30 pm, bus 1:45, warmup 2:30, and start time will be at 3:15 – these times are the same as those previously listed.

Jeffrey Schare

SHS Swimmers Will “Swim for Haiti”

On Tuesday, February 2, three weeks to the day after an earthquake struck Port-au-Prince at 4:53 pm, Staples Swimming and the Westport Weston Family Y Water Rat Swim Team will “Swim for Haiti” to raise money for Save the Children’s relief efforts. The fundraising event will take place at the same time at both Staples High School and the Westport Weston Family Y.

The Staples Boys Swimming & Diving Team will Swim for Haiti during their regular practice time, 2:30 pm. Members of the Boys Water Polo Team, Girls Swimming & Diving Team and Girls Water Polo Team are invited to participate. Click to download an information packet.

Boys Swimming tri-captain Cameron Bruce and captain’s mom Linda Bruce are the contact people for the Staples Swim for Haiti. Swimmers should use a contributor sheet (which is part of the information packet) to record donations. Contributor sheets may be turned in during Swim for Haiti or at practice. But all contributor sheets and checks are due no later than practice on Thursday, February 4, 2010. The next day Staples Swimming will deliver the money to Save the Children.

Twenty-one days after the earthquake has symbolic significance. More than half of Haiti’s population is under the age of 21. Children are at particular risk in the weeks ahead, which is why Staples Swimming and the Westport Weston Family Y have decided to support Westport-based Save the Children.

Peggy Mevs, the mother of Staples swimmer Gabby Wimer, was born in Port-au-Prince. She has family members who were affected by the earthquake, which has claimed tens of thousands of lives. Following the quake, Ms.Mevs feverishly tried to contact her family to no avail. Then at 2:00 AM she received this e-mail from one of her cousins:

Thanks Peggy,

There are no phone working except for CDMA provider Haitel. It has been the most unreal day in my whole life. The Montana Hotel and the Villa Creole Hotel has collapsed. Almost everything is destroyed.

The family is ok.

One niece with broken legs. Walked almost two hours to get home to my kids. Took me five to locate my wife. We are all together and fine. My brother in law’s parent lost their house and kid nephew buried in it. We lost our gardner buried under a wall.

So on… So much casualty…

You got the ideas.

Are sleeping on the lawn at friends.

Cannot get to my house.

A collapsed building is blocking the road.

Thanks for asking.

Gregory

Ms. Mevs received one more message from Gregory before his Blackberry battery died.

Haitians need as much help as they can get and they need it as soon as they can get it. That is why all of the Staples Swimming coaches and captains hope we can count on your support as we raise money for Haitian relief.

Pasta Dinner Reminder

The Goodgames are hosting the pasta dinner on Tuesday, January 26th.  The address is 222 Compo Road South.

Norwalk Meet (1/27)Time Change-E.D. @ 1:30

Coach Schare

Teambook

Please read the attached teambook; it is a guide for athletes and parents who are a part of Staples swimming and diving.

shs team book staples swim Jan 4

Wreckers Boys’ Swim Team Wins First Meet

By Alicia Lourekas ‘12
Staff Writer

After losing the last three meets, on Jan. 8 the Wreckers boys’ swimming and diving team was ready to win. Swimming against Trumbull High School, another 0-3 team, the Wreckers pulled through and defeated Trumbull 99- 65.

The Wreckers won the meet by a large margin. This can be attributed to the beginning of the meet, where they proved their strength as a team, which also continued throughout the entire meet.

Swimmers Matt Wisher ’12, Nathaniel Boley ’13, along with Larry Abel ’10 and tri- captain Mac Mombello ’10, placed first in the 200 medley relay, which was the first event of the meet. They won with a time of 2:04:67.

“We were eager after coming off our last three loses to win, and today was that day,” said tri-captain Trevor Lally ’10.

The freestyle events also supported the Wrecker’s success, starting with a win by Joss Abel ’12 in the 200 freestyle with a time of 2:13:20. Additionally, Steven Siecienski ’11 won the 400 freestyle with a time of 5:06:58. In the same heat tri-captains Cameron Bruce ‘10 and Mombello timed in at 5:06:15 and 5:09:58, taking 2nd and 3rd, respectively.

New team member, Boley, proved to be an asset to the team’s win by taking first in the 50 freestyle and 100 backstroke with times of 0:26:65 and 1:63:32. Also, stand-out swimmer Cory Bacon ’11 won the 100 freestyle with a time of 1:00:5. He also came in 2nd , only four seconds behind in the 200 IM, which includes all strokes, pulling a 2:26:54.

However, Bacon wasn’t the only swimmer who helped lead the wreckers to victory. In the 100 Butterfly, Wisher grabbed hold of 1st with a time of 1:08:25, and took third in the 50 freestyle.

Zachary Slater ’11 won the diving competition against Trumbull’s only diver. With a score of 223.65, Slater beat Trumbull’s diver by 78.75 points.

Overall, the team was very excited about their first win of the season, especially after knowing they had a good chance of coming out with a win. “We are done with our toughest competition and we did fine at those meets, so I knew we would do well today,” said Bruce.

The Wreckers boy’s swim team is ready to win more meets in the future, and they are practicing hard for their upcoming meet against Darien High School.

Reprinted from Inklings

Pasta Dinner Reminder

The Bruces are hosting the pasta dinner this Thursday after practice.  The address is 9 Winding Lane which is off of Stony Brook Road and Old Hill Farms Road.

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