Redwings Swimmers Fall to West New York's Memorial High School

The natatorium was packed with fans cheering on the Hoboken swim teams for their co-ed meet Monday afternoon, but it wasn't enough to propel them past the larger, more experienced Memorial High School of West New York. But, even in the 59.5-34.5 loss, there were plenty of highlights for the Redwings.

Junior Duke McCourt came within a millisecond of the 60m freestyle record, set in 1968 by Thomas O'Connell. McCourt swam a :32.21; the record is :32.01.

The next event saw senior Charlie Espinoza barely miss the win in the 100 butterfly. It was Espinoza's first time competing in the event, and he made a costly rookie mistake: he short-stroked at the end, taking an extra half stroke rather than gliding into the wall.

Junior Paul Keim won the 200m and 500m free, an impressive feat after missing more than a week of competition and practice due to a stomach bug. This was his first day back.

Senior captain Taylor Gudowitz propelled her medley relay squad to a win. She also took third in the 100m breaststroke, but was only fractions away from second-place.

Sisters Amiele and Alexia Marrache took second and third in the 100m backstroke, with the younger Alexia, a freshman, nudging out her sister, a senior.

After the meet, coach Pat Ciriello said Memorial H.S. is a "darn good squad," and that many of the races could've gone either way. He said overall, he is not worried about the scores. At a school where many of the team members did not grow up swimming, he is simply impressed by how far his kids have made it.

The regular season wraps up with Wednesday's home meet against Hudson Catholic, then it's on to the county and state tournaments. The team is 2-6 on the season. McCourt is Hoboken's best shot at making it to states, though he has not yet qualified.