Wave Swimmers Take 'Fantastic' Fifth in FCIAC

When every swimmer on your team posts their best time of the season, you're in for a successful evening. That's what Darien boy's swimming coach Matt Czaplicki got from his squad Thursday night, as the Blue Wave swam their way to fifth place in the FCIAC Championship at Greenwich High School.

"The guys were just fantastic," Czaplicki said. "I've never had a meet like that in my life."

The top finishers for Darien were: Tyler Gould with a third place finish in the 50 freestyle and Chris Weis with a fourth place finish in the 200 freestyle.

"As a whole, everyone improved tonight. A little bit of time can make a huge difference, and they just swam great. It's a really good feeling," Czaplicki said.

The top team on the evening was the Greenwich Cardinals, who took first place with a dominating 408 total points. Westhill of Stamford was a distant second with 308, and a quartet of Patch towns rounded out the top six with New Canaan third (302), Ridgefield fourth (284.5), Darien fifth (232.5) and Wilton sixth (196).

Starting off the night was the 200 Medley Relay. The New Canaan team of Higgins, John Santoro, Jason Potter, and Patrick Sweeney took the top spot in this event with a time 1:39.17. Coming in second was Greenwich, followed by Ridgefield, Norwalk, and Wilton.

Finishing first in the 200 Meter Freestyle was Ridgefield's Andrew Klutey with a time of 1:43.52. Andrew Hendrickson of Westhill finished second, followed by Andrew Dillinger of Greenwich, Chris Weis of Darien, and another Tiger in Sean Sutherland.

Ridgefield found gold again in the 200 IM, with Brian Bollerman taking first with a time of 1:53.72. Less than a second later was New Canaan's Higgins, who was followed by Grayson Smith of Ridgefield, Santoro of New Canaan, and Westhill's Jeffrey Anderson.

The 50 Freestyle was taken by Greenwich's Eric Minowitz, with John Craig of Wilton in second, and Tyler Gould of Darien and Derrian Duryea of Ridgefield tying for third.

In the 100 Freestyle it was Minkowitz again, followed by Craig and Westhill's Igor Sytnyk. Tom Sorenson of Greenwich and Chris Weis of Darien rounded out the top five.

The 100 Butterfly saw another Greenwich win, this time by Michael Dustin. Austin Wolff of New Canaan took second, and Westhill's Anderson took third.

The 500 freestyle was owned by Ridgefield, who took first and third with Andrew Klutey and Grayson Smith. In the 100 Backstroke Oscar Castillo of Brien McMahon took first, with Staples' Nathaniel Boyd and Matt Wisher in second and third. Higgins dominated the 100 Breaststroke, with Brian Bollerman of Ridgefield and Tony Matir of Greenwich taking second and third.

The two freestyle relays were hotly contested, with Greenwich taking the top spot in both the 200 and 400. Ridgefield took second in both races, and New Canaan took third in the 200.

The diving events took place Wednesday night at Westhill, with Greenwich dominating here as well. The Cardinals took the top two spots, while Dan Schott of Wilton finished third and Staples' Zach Slater was fourth.