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RYE, N.Y. The Lake Isle Country Club summer swim team monopolized the Westchester County Swimming and Diving Championships, winning six consecutive titles from 2005 to 2010. However, the Greenburgh Swim Team halted that run last year.
Declan Kennon joined Lake Isle in 2006 and experienced the last five titles, so coming in second last year, to Greenburgh, was out of character.
It was very strange and also a little disappointing, said Kennon, 16, and a junior-to-be at Fordham Prep. We made this our goal to get back to the top again.
Lake Isle accomplished its goal, nearly lapping the field to win the 87th annual event at Playland Pool, Thursday. Lake Isle amassed 284 points, followed by Greenburgh (199 points) and Wykagyl Country Club (161 points).
Nick Torres closed out the competition for Lake Isle with another record-setting performance winning the boys 10-and-under 50-yard butterfly. Torres also won the boys 10-and-under high-point award and Kennon shared the boys 17-and-under award with his high school teammate, Charles Barry of the Greenburgh Swim Team.
Torres was seeded second in the final, after clocking in at 29.27 seconds in his preliminary heat. That eclipsed the record of 29.41 seconds, set by Adam Kaplan in 1995. However, Yugo Tsukikawa swam a time of 29.01 seconds to set the mark and earn the first seed going into finals.
Both swimmers flew in the final, but it was Torres just touching ahead of Tsukikawa, in a new standard of 28.56 seconds to Tsukikawas 28.81 seconds.
Theyre very competitive and they love to win, which is good for the team, said Kennon, a Yonkers resident, of his young teammates.
Along with Torres winning, teammate Ryan Maierle finished third in the 50 fly and was also second to Torres in the high-point award. Torres and Maierle also teamed with Aidan Bowers, 11, and Daniel Tucci, 13, to finish second in the boys 13-and-under 200-yard freestyle relay.
The girls 13-and-under 200 freestyle relay team of Georgia Lazaroni, Lauren LaBarca, Gabriella Guglielmi and Theresa Pace finished third. Lazaroni tied for second in the girls 12-and-under high-point standings.
In all different age groups, we had kids score points, said Kennon, who finished fourth in the boys 17-and-under 100 backstroke. Everyone contributed to this and that is what makes it special.
Winning back the title was nice, but what made it even more special were the Playland park passes the team was receiving. Following the award presentation and team picture, Kennon and his teammates left to enjoy the Playland rides.
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