DHHS Girls' Swim Team Wins Double at Double Dual Meet; Tigers Beat Rival Shelton

By Lili Foggle

At the October 10th meet against East Haven and North Haven, the Daniel Hand Girls' swim team demonstrated again that they are a force to be reckoned with this season.  With a  96 - 57 win against East Haven, and a 96.5 - 80.5 win against North Haven, the Tigers took first place in 15 out of 19 scored events against the two teams.  The team followed that up by beating rival Shelton two days later with a score of 94 - 74.

At the double dual meet against the East Haven and North Haven teams, swimmers Deirdre Haren, Marissa Rossi, and Caroline Wolek once again brought home first place in their individual events.  Grace Hesse joined those three girls as part of the winning 200 yard Freestyle Relay team, and also won the 50 yard Freestyle event  with a 27.22 time. The Tigers took first place in the 200 yard Medley Relay in 2.05.11 with the team of Deirdre Haren, Leah Connolly, sophomore Anne Kennedy and freshman Alex Wagner. Tiger diver Renata Diotalevi easily won the diving event. 

At the meet against Shelton on October 12th, the DHHS team again dominated with wins in 8 out of 10 events. Marissa Rossi, Caroline Wolek and Alex Wagner continued their winning streak, taking first place in many of the individual events. The 200 yard Medley Relay team of Tricia Hurst, Anne Kennedy, Deirdre Haren and Alex Wagner won with a 2.02.54 time. Grace Hesse took first place in the 50 yard Freestyle event with an impressive 27.33 time, and went on to win a second event as part of the 200 yard Freestyle Relay team.

At the three meets, six girls on the DHHS Swim team achieved qualifying times in their event for the State Class M Championships.  Marissa Rossi qualified in three events: the 200 yard Freestyle event (2.01.73), the 100 yard Butterfly (1.05.90) and the grueling 500 yard Freestyle event (5.30.21).  Leah Connolly qualified in the 200 yard Individual Medley event (2.31.97) and the 100 yard Backstroke (1.10.13). Deirdre Haren qualified in the 100 yard Freestyle (59.07) and again in the 200 yard Individual Medley (2.29.94). Caroline Wolek qualified in the 200 yard Freestyle (2.02.99) and the 100 yard Freestyle (58.02). Lynsey Kirby qualified in the 200 yard Individual Medley with a 2.29.88 time. Alex Wagner qualified in the 500 yard Freestyle (5.41.54) and the 100 yard Backstroke (1.09.32) event.

The East Haven, North Haven and Shelton meets bring the Daniel Hand Girls' Swim Team season record to 6 - 2.

This article was contributed by a Patch reader. If you have something you'd like us to run, contact pem.mcnerney@patch.com.