Conard Swimmers Seeking a Repeat Title in CCC West

Hall's Jack Swain was making waves. So was Sam Cagenello and Mac Cherny of Conard.

On one side of the 11-lane pool at the Wednesday, the boys swimming team was going through its drills. On the other side, defending CCC West champion was also turning laps.

The season begins Friday at the Wethersfield Relays. Though more a rehearsal than a competition, opponents will get their first look at Conard, which went from a forgettable 2008-09 to an unbeaten CCC West championship and fifth-place finish at the Class L meet last season.

"We lost eight strong seniors," said coach John Smachetti, who is 21-4 in two seasons at Conard, including 14-0 last season.

But keeping Conard atop the conference and a challenger in Class L will be a test.

"We hope to repeat as CCC West champions, but we'll have to go through an always strong Farmington and a much improved Hall team," Smachetti said.

Hall was 8-6 last season and tied for third in the CCC West.

"We have a pretty deep team," coach John McClure said. "The trick will be to find the areas to swim each kid to maximize their point production. It will not necessarily be the same events in each meet."

Cagenello, the Class L 200-yard freestyle champion, leads a quartet of All-CCC West performers for Conard, including Greg Youngstrom, Luke Piscitelli and Cherny, who finished 17^th in Class L diving as a sophomore. One-meter teammate Tim Lopes qualified in Class L last season as a freshman.

The key, Smachetti said, is "to fill the gaps left by those who graduated," including All-Stater Dom Errico.

Keith Gagnon, Chris Warren, Ty Seymour, Toby Casper and Scott Brandner are among the hopefuls for Conard, which also finished 15^th at the State Open.

Swain, who was seventh in the Class L 100-yard breaststroke and 11^th in the 200 intermediate medley, is Hall's only All-CCC West swimmer. He is an example of the versatility McClure says might put Hall in the CCC West mix.

 "Many kids can swim a multitude of events with not much drop off in time from one kid to another," McClure said.

Thomas Horigan and Scott Scheirey also return for Hall with Class L experience. Conner Taub, Alex Nee, Leland Bergen, Max Ferrer and Aaron Meyers-Weinerman figure to be key contributors.

And freshmen Brendan McClure and Ethan Swain are veterans of USA Swimming competitions with times below or near the state qualifying standards, McClure said.

"Simsbury, Conard and Farmington will be major roadblocks to winning the CCC West," McClure said.

Around the pool

Conard begins dual competition Tuesday at Manchester. The CCC West season begins Jan. 25 against Farmington. … Hall is at Wethersfield Tuesday and opens in CCC West Jan. 25 against Northwest Catholic. … The Conard-Hall clash is Feb. 22.