Warrior swim proves their potential in first meet of the season

Published in the September 26, 2018 edition

By DAN BYRNE

MALDEN — Wakefield Memorial High School girls’ varsity swim team had their first meet of the season last week, when they hosted Reading at their home pool at Malden High.

Reading is a perennial super-team, but the Warriors showed that they can swim with anybody as they put in very respectable performances in every event.

The meet started off in historic fashion for the Warriors, as the Medley Relay kicked off the season. Warrior swimmers Hannah Guay, Laura Sweeney, Katie Patt, and Abby Federici swam a team record 1:57.45, finishing second in the event, but their time smashed a team record that had stood since 2012 by more than three seconds. After one event, the Warriors’ relay has recorded a time good enough to qualify for States at the end of the season.

“When they (2012 relay) broke that record, I never expected them to do that, the old record had been around since like ‘91, so here we are in 2018 and it’s broken again, actually by more than 3 seconds,” said Warriors head coach, Kathy Byrne of her team’s fast start.

LAURA SWEENEY had a great first meet against Reading, getting 2nd in the 100-yard freestyle, and helping the Medley Relay and the 400 yard freestyle relay get 2nd. (Donna Larsson File Photo)

“We almost beat them, it was just a touch,” Byrne said, as Reading’s relay came in just ahead at 1:57.21.

Hannah Guay swam to a first-place finish in the 200 Yard Individual Medley with a time of 2:18.64, a time quick enough to qualify for States as well.

Abby Federici took home third place in the 50 Yard Freestyle.

Katie Patt had an impressive day in her first High School meet. She was involved with the Medley relay to begin the day, later on she took a 2nd place in the 100 Yard Butterfly, with a time of 1:02.33 which qualifies her for Sectionals and States.

She was also involved in the 200 Yard Backstroke, where she took home 2nd place points, but qualified for Sectionals and States with a time of 1:02.13, also edging out her teammate Hannah Guay who had set the team record for this event only a year ago.

In the 100 Yard Freestyle, Laura Sweeney had a strong swim that netted her 2nd place points with a time of 0:58.46, fast enough to punch her ticket to Sectionals and States in the event later in the year. She accomplished a similar feat in the 100 Yard Breaststroke with a 3rd place finish at a time of 1:13.88.

ABBY FEDERICI helped the Medley Relay break a school record as they got a 1:57:45, shattering the previous record time by more than three seconds. (Donna Larsson File Photo)

The 200 Yard Freestyle relay of Erica Pecjo, Alyssa Toppi, Emily Chan, and Sophie Brown swam to a 3rd place finish, but their time of 1:57.32 was quick enough to qualify for Sectionals.

The Warriors came home in 2nd and 4th in the meet’s final event, the 400 Yard Freestyle Relay. The team of Hannah Guay, Laura Sweeney, Katie Patt, and Abby Federici swam to a 2nd place finish with a time of 4:03.71, qualifying for States and Sectionals in a second event.

The 4th place finishing team of Katherine Maloney, Emily Chan, Reignyah Grant, and Sophie Brown swam a time of 4:20.13, and qualified for sectionals.

The Warriors took 4th, 5th and 6th in the 200 yard freestyle.

The final score was Reading 88 Wakefield 74.

Coach Byrne said of her team’s first meet, “I am very pleased with the times the girls were able to swim. We had a really good showing, they worked really hard, and to have all these State qualifying times in our first meet is unprecedented,

The coach talked more about what she saw last week saying, “Fabulous swims by many of the girls, maybe they didn’t all take first places, but to break records and have those qualifying times is great.”

“We saw a lot of first-time High School swimmers,” the coach added, “And they’re showing us that their hard work is really paying off. That’s pretty impressive.”

Looking ahead, the Warriors will swim again on Wednesday as they face Winchester.

“We have Winchester on Wednesday night,” Coach Byrne said. “They have a very large team, with close to 70 girls on the team.”

She concluded saying, “We’re hoping to see some improvement in the times, and hoping to win the next meet.”