Lady Wrecker swimmers finish in the middle

Finishing in the middle of the pack is usually a sign of mediocrity, but not when it comes to FCIAC girls swimming.

The FCIAC has at least six of the top 10 teams in the state. Staples showed its among the 10-15 best programs in the state by placing seventh at the 13-team FCIAC championship Saturday with 165 points, beating eighth-place Westhill (138.5), a team it lost to in the regular season.

"We did really well," Staples coach Mike Laux said. "After trials, we knew we had a chance to beat them [Westhill] and the girls were excited to do it. The girls swam very well at trials to put them in good position for finals, and they swam well at finals."

Lady Wreckers senior captain Gabby Wimer said, "I was really pleased with us taking seventh at FCIACS. It's the strongest conference in the state so we had a lot of competition. It was great that we were able to beat Westhill because they beat us by such a slim margin on Senior Day, so everyone was excited to race them again. Everyone did a great job coming back and swimming faster at finals which was the key to beating them."

New Canaan (396) won it for the second straight year. Greenwich (334), Wilton (321.5) and Trumbull (233) placed second, third and fourth, respectively. Darien and Norwalk (213) finished tied for fifth.

Sophomore Verity Abel led the Lady Wreckers by winning the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:01.36.

"I was really excited to win the 500," Abel said. "I didn't swim it at FCIACs last year and it was kind of unexpected for me. I tried to stay at the same pace and have steady splits."

Abel was hoping to break the meet record of 5:00 and this spurred her on.

"It was a race against the clock," Abel said. "I just missed it this year and I hope to get it next year."

Staples scored more points than any other team in the 500-free. Junior Sarah Cooperman (5:28.03) and freshman Jordan Santarella (5:33.20) placed eighth and 15th in it, respectively.

"I was disappointed with my 500," Cooperman said. "The training was off because of the changed schedule, but I hope this week, my training is on-schedule and I do well at States. Verity and Jordan did well in the 500 and put a lot of effort into it. It was exciting to watch."

Abel (2:06.69) also took second in the 200-yard individual medley.

"I had a little less confidence in the IM [than I had in the 500], but placing second was exciting," Abel said. "It was a thrilling race and I faced great swimmers. It was nerve racking but exciting."

She began the race with the butterfly and followed with the backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle, respectively.

"I tried to go all out in every stroke and in the backstroke, I tried to push it up and go faster," Abel said. "I figured if I can go out and get a lead, the backstroke was the best stroke for me to do it."

Abel also anchored the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:42.5) to fifth place and the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:43.91) to sixth. Wimer and and senior captain Caroline Valerio along with Cooperman preceded her in the 200-free relay, and Wimer, Santarella and Cooperman went before her in the 400-free relay.

Moreover, the Lady Wreckers showed fortitude in both races. Staples fell short to Trumbull (3:43.3) but edged Darien (3:43.98) in the 400-free relay, and lost to Norwalk (1:41.75) but beat Darien (1:43.42) in the 200-free relay.

The Lady Wreckers took eighth in the 200-yard medley relay (1:58.7) behind junior Alexis Teixiera, sophomore Gabbie LeBlanc, Valerio and freshman Stacy Kaneko.

Wimer was Staples' top sprinter, placing eighth in the 50-yard freestyle (25.71) and 10th in the 100-yard freestyle (55.78).

"It was really important for me to get off to a fast start in both races," Wimer said. "And then in the 100 I had to make sure that I started kicking more in the second half of the race."

Cooperman took 11th in the 200-yard freestyle (2:01.5).

"I came out of the 200 very happy because I dropped time in it," Cooperman said. "My coaches Mr. Laux and assistant coach Laura Bedson to kick and streamline and pay attention to my technique, which I don't normally do and it paid off."

LeBlanc (1:13) and junior Anita Vohra (1:13.8) were 11th and 12th, respectively in the 100-yard breaststroke. Valerio (1:03.45) placed 14th in the 100-yard butterfly, and Kaneko (1:06.3) made it to 16th in the 100-yard backstroke.

"It puts us in a good position for states and we hope to finish sixth," Laux said.

Wimer said, "We're coming off a lot of fast swims, but we've also seen what else we need to work on before States. We're ready for a strong week of training and we're getting really excited for States and another opportunity to race Norwalk, Trumbull and Westhill."