Boys Show Strength and Depth in Win Over St. George's

Westminster Boys' Swimming/Diving kicked off the 2019-2020 season with a convincing win over the visiting Dragons from St. George's, led by impressive performances from its veterans and a bundle of nice surprises from many newcomers who made their presence known. The meet began with big win in the 200 medley relay, swum by Max Larock '22, Eddie Shin '21, Jason Shi '21 and Layton Harmon '21; they finished just 0.64 seconds short of a school record. Larock then won the 200 freestyle with Kieran Haug '21 taking second, and co-captain Hudson Stedman '21 won the 200 IM, with J-C Lane '21 in third and a particularly strong race from Mason Zottolla '23 in his first individual race as a Martlet. Harmon and Shi sprinted to a 1-2 finish in the 50 freestyle, although in the final yards of the race Shi suffered a shoulder injury that sidelined him for the remainder of the meet. Leo Kolomeiskii '21 beat out two challengers from St. George's in the diving event to take the top spot, and Justin Shi '21 and co-captain Daniel Pinckney '20 placed second and third in the 100 fly, respectively. Harmon won the 100 freestyle, with Alvin Zhang '23 in second, and Stedman won the 500 freestyle with a solid swim. Also in the 500 was Spence Kwan '22, who, in his first meet for the black and gold, tackled the longest event in the program and had a fantastic, gritty swim, good for third place. In the 200 freestyle relay, Owen Huang '23, Justin Shi, Zhang and Shin placed second, while Jamai Miller '22, Pinckney, Grant McCargo '21 and Kwan placed third. Larock won the 100 backstroke with a quick time, with Haug and Lane in third and fourth, respectively, and another fast swim from Zottolla in his debut. Shin and Zhang went 1-2 in the 100 breaststroke, respectively, both with very good times, and the 400 freestyle relay team of Stedman, Harmon, Justin Shi and Larock put the icing on the win with a strong showing in the meet's final event. The boys looked great in their season opener, revealing not only good veteran performers at the top, but also impressive depth from many new athletes who got their first taste of racing in black and gold. Well done! For full results, click here.