Pleasant Valley Pool Swimmers Win Again

After a defeat against Chester by nearly 50 points, on Saturday, July 10, Pleasant Valley Pool (PVP) Piranhas were anxious to take on their next opponent at Bee Meadow this past Wednesday, July 14.  

The swimmers began the meet by winning both the boys' and girls' 100-meter medley relays, earning the team 14 points. Sarah Valente, Kate Bradley, Amanda Wachenfeld and Jennifer Moore took up legs in the girls' relay group while Tyler Gibbons, Joey Patchett, Bradley Wachenfeld and Robert Patten made up the boys' counterpart.
 
Following the relays came the individual medleys, where the Piranhas stole three of the four races; Evelyn Bigini won the 12 and under and Amanda and Bradley Wachenfeld took the 15 and older races. At the beginning of the freestyle events, the score was 38 PVP to 12 Bee Meadow, and during the next ten races, PVP stacked up another 54 points. Madeline Skapper, Paige Johnson, Aaron Schlemovitz, Amanda Wachenfeld and Joey Patchett all came first in their heats, while Elizabeth Buckley, Evelyn Bigini and Catherine Giuseffi swept (came in first, second and third, gaining all points available for the event) in the 11/12 race.
 
About halfway through, the Piranhas held 91 points while Bee Meadow carried 49. During the breaststroke events, however, Bee Meadow outscored PVP 54 to 34, as well as swept in the boys' 13/14 race. The lead well still in Pleasant Valley's clutches thanks to the points attained by swimmers like Madeline Skapper, Jessica Creedon, Kate Bradley and Joey Patchett, who all won their races. Also scoring points were James Pruskowski, Liam McCluckey and Emuly Connolly, who came in second in their heats, and Meghan Convery, Caroline Giuseffi and Ted Hoeller, who placed third in theirs.
 
Still 20 points ahead, with the score 125 to 105, PVP kicked off the backstroke events by winning five consecutive races with Cate Hegeman, Christopher Fabian, Paige Johnson, Dylan Wachenfeld, and Elizabeth Buckley all touching the wall first. Stephanie Ruderman and Jennifer Moore also claimed victory in their races while Bradley Wachenfeld, Tyler Gibbons and Brian Patchett swept in the 15 and older race.  After this event, the Piranhas had managed another 60 points over Bee Meadow's 32.
 
The butterfly events, the final individual events before the step-up relays, were a ricochet of points flying from one end of the pool to the other. Aaron Schlemovitz and Amanda and Bradley Wachenfeld were the only PVP swimmers to place first outside of the girls' 11/12 Piranha sweep-consisting of Evelyn Bigini, Catherine Giuseffi and Kathryn Ascolese. Bee Meadow also swept during the 9/10 girls' race, but the Piranhas stayed true to their named and kept attacking until the end, earning only two points less than Bee Meadow did during the butterfly races.
 
The score was 228 to 182, which meant PVP did not need to win the two step up relays to beat Bee Meadow, but they did, with both relays teams finishing at 1:04, nearly ten seconds before each of the following second place Bee Meadow groups.  The final score was 242 to 182.
 
"Everyone really stepped up their game," said swimmer and coach Tyler Gibbons. "It [was] nice to see all the hard work they put in at practice everyday pay off." Optimistic by the team's record of 4 wins and 1 loss, head coach Lindsay Gibbons says, "The season is off to a great start".
 
"We have a large number of new swimmers who have really made a name for themselves on PVP," she continues. "The veteran swimmers haven't disappointed [us either]. They have all improved from last season and it really showed against Bee Meadow. I am excited to see how much they can improve by the end of the season."

Editor's Note: This article was submitted by guest contributor Rachel Conklin.