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GREENWICH, Conn. Rocky Point Swim Club of Greenwich used a strong finish and a record-breaking day by Alex Walsh to pull away from host Roxbury Swim and Tennis Club of Stamford to win the 64th annual Fairfield County Swim League championship.
The victory ended a three-year grip on the title for Roxbury and marked only the third time in 22 years Roxbury did not win the county title. Rocky Point won with a team score of 1106.5 points to Roxburys 1058.
Roxbury held a slim half-point lead entering the final four events of the day. But strong second-place finishes by Matthew Fraser in boys 17-and-under 100-meter freestyle and by Jaimie Miller in the girls 17-and-under 100-meter freestyle gave Rocky Point the lead for good. A first-place finish for the girls 200-meter freestyle relay team and a solid third-place showing by the boys side clinched the victory for Rocky Point.
It was an up-and-down meet for us. To be perfectly frank, I was hoping to win by a little more, Rocky Point head coach Terry Lowe said. But our middle ages, the 10s and 12s, had a great day. Alex Walsh is such a star out there. Itll be really interesting to see where her career takes her in the coming years.
Lowe referred to the record-breaking day Walsh had in the girls 10-and-under 50-meter freestyle. Walsh smashed a 40-year-old record by an eye-popping four seconds, taking the top spot in the event with a time of 29.89 seconds. Walsh also picked up wins in the girls 10-and-under 25-meter breastsroke (16.68) and the girls 10-and-under 100-meter individual medley (1:14.90)
Rocky Point also got first-place finishes from Gretchen Walsh (girls 10-and-under 25-meter butterfly, 15.41 seconds), Kellen Carlson (girls 12-and-under 50-meter breaststroke, 38.84; girls 12-and-under 100-meter individual medley, 1:15.10), Ainsleigh Winget (girls 12-and-under 50-meter backstroke, 34.50) and Miller in the girls 17-and-under 50-meter backstroke (31.36).
Rocky Points first-place finishing 200-meter freestyle relay team included Gretchen Walsh, Alex Walsh, Ainsleigh Winget and Annie Miller (2:01.06).
Eight-year-old Meghan Lynch of Greenwichs Bailiwick Club received the Mark Newcome Cup, awarded to the meets Most Valuable Swimmer. Lynch had arguably the best individual day of all the swimmers, breaking three separate 8-and-under records.
Lynch set new county records in the 25-meter breaststroke (18.95), the 25-meter freestyle (15.18) and the 25-meter backstroke (18.72), a record that had stood for 36 years.
Other notable top finishers from Greenwich included a new county record set by Katie Evans of Innis Arden Country Club (girls 17-and-under 100-meter individual medley, 1:06.18; girls 17-and-under 50-meter breaststroke, 34.57), Alex Hazlett of Greenwich Country Club (boys 8-and-under 25-meter freestyle, 15.68), Cole Pierce of Burning Tree Country Club (boys 12-and-under 50-meter backstroke, 33.85), Kevin Lydon of Innis Arden (boys 12-and-under 100-meter indidvidual medley, 1:14.91), Riley Ennis of Innis Arden (girls 14-and-under 50-meter breaststroke, 36.08) and Sam Ennis of Innis Arden (girls 8-and-under 25-meter butterfly, 17.80).
The Innis Arden girls 200-meter medley relay team of Claire Michalik, Riley Ennis, Katie Evans and Grace Lee won the top spot in that race (2:14.86).
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