Road Warriors: Lake Isle Wins First Away Meet

Competing away from home for the first time this summer, the boys and girls from the Lake Isle Swim & Dive Team defeated the team from Scarsdale by a score of 241-229 Thursday morning, overcoming a truly oppressive heat to preserve their perfect record this season and move to 4-0 in dual meets.

Like it has all season long, Lake Isle benefited from a number of strong performances by members of its diving team, who edged the divers from Scarsdale by one point on Thursday and handed the team’s swimmers a lead they would never look back on.

Billy Quintano, who Lake Isle coaches said has been steadily improving this summer, won the 17 & Under boys competition against Scarsdale after finishing top three in the team’s first three meets. The team was also competing without one of its best young divers in Brendan McLoughlin, who competes in both the 13 & Under and 17 & Under division and won both at the team’s last dual meet against Greenburgh.

The Lake Isle Diving Team has found itself in a number of tight contests so far this summer, tying in their first meet against Larchmont Yacht Club and losing a close one to Rye Golf, before battling to another tie against Greenburgh. Considering his team of divers is mostly comprised of young and even first-time competitors, Lake Isle Diving Coach JJ Rogener says he has been very impressed by the performances – and attitudes – of his young protégés.

“We have a lot of new divers, some who have never tried the sport before,” said Rogener, who himself was a County champion for four years and holds the Lake Isle team records for the 13 & Under and 17 & Under diving events. “One thing that is certainty notable about them is their determination and work ethic. Many of the teams we compete against have year-round divers, but as a young team, our divers have worked hard and have shown that they have what it takes to compete at a high level.”

Despite having his group compete before the swimmers at one of the team's meets, Rogener says he feels no pressure to score any set amount of points or end his side of the competition with Lake Isle in the lead, focusing instead on getting the best out of each and every one of his divers and keeping smiles on their faces.

“For me, it’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game,” Rogener said. “When I go into a meet, my goal is for every diver to have a great personal performance, while also cheering for their members and having a good time. I love to see us win, but it isn’t the biggest reason why we’re here.”

For 15-year-old diver Krista Gresia, Rogener’s patient teaching skills and laid-back attitude has been a trademark of her time with the Lake Isle Diving Team, and has helped her approach her sport with an eager and relaxed mindset.

“JJ is a really good coach and really helps us through diving and anything else we need,” Gresia said. “We just do our thing and go out there with our minds clear and do our dives. We just think positive and have fun with it.”

The Lake Isle divers aren’t the only ones to have benefited in the past from Rogener’s knowledge of the sport, however, as even Head Coach Kevin Lavelle believes Rogener’s coaching skills and experience have played a major part in the success enjoyed by the team since his arrival. 

“JJ and the diving team don’t get enough credit,” Lavelle said. “We are a swimming and diving team, and every point they score counts the same as any of our swimmers. We are almost always close to or in the lead after diving, and that makes it easier on the whole team. Some of the divers just dive, but some both dive and swim, so JJ and I are always talking strategy. He’s been coaching at Lake Isle a year longer than I have and has done a wonderful job with the diving program.”

On the swimming end of things, Lake Isle once again received a stellar performance from Nick Torres on Thursday, who won the freestyle, breaststroke and butterfly events in the 10 & Under division, and is now undefeated in all of Lake Isle’s four meets this summer. Yuma Kase was also a triple winner against Scarsdale, placing first in the 14 & Under girls backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly.

Double winners at the meet included Chris Torres (8 & Under boys freestyle and breaststroke), Johji Nonaka (8 & Under boys backstroke and butterfly), Theresa Pace (12 & Under girls freestyle and breaststroke) and Yuha Kase (12 & Under girls backstroke and butterfly).

The Lake Isle Swim and Dive team will be back in action next Wednesday, when they face off against the team Westchester Country Club in their final dual meet of the season.