Larchmont-Mamaroneck Teams Make Move on Day 2 of Counties

Larchmont and Mamaroneck area swimmers made a strong showing on Day Two of this week's Westchester County Championships at the Playland pool, earning a number of medals and even breaking a few meet records along the way.

One of the highlights of Tuesday's day of competition was the impressive performance of the Larchmont Yacht Club's girls 17-and-under 200-yard freestyle relay team. After securing the top seed in the preliminary round, the team of Maggie Tracy, Molly Scudder, Bridget Johanson, and Kelly Johanson grabbed an early lead in the finals and never looked back, finishing first in a new meet record time of 1 minute, 46.17 seconds.

"These girls have been breaking records for a long time," said Larchmont Yacht Club head coach Dominick Galimi. "Obviously this pool is difficult to manage through, but we definitely thought we had a shot. There's just something about counties at Playland that brings out the best in everyone and that's what they were able to do tonight."

The old record, which stood at 1 minute and 46.63, was set in 2008 by the relay team from the New York Athletic Club. One member of that team now coaches at the Larchmont Yacht Club, something which leadoff leg Maggie Tracy admitted served as a little extra motivation.

"Our assistant coach Ali [Guba] — it's her record from her time with the [New York] AC so we wanted to beat her record," said Tracy, who swims for the Ursuline School and the Gaels during the winter season. "My coach just told me to get a big lead and do what I know how to do. We've had this record in our minds for a very long time."

LYC's team of Elizabeth Carrier, Emma Gordon, Lukas Katherine, and Thea Bruggerman, also earned medals Tuesday, finishing third in the girls 10-and-under 200 Yard Medley Relay with a time of 2:39.40. Bruggerman also placed third in the girls 10-and-under 50-yard freestyle in 29.11. Larchmont Shore Club's Amelia Showers was eighth in that event in 31.96.

Orienta Beach Club also had a successful day on Tuesday, led by 12-year-old standout Liam Egan and 13-year-old Chris Aventuro. Egan took home his second gold in as many days, winning the boys 12-and-under 50-yard butterfly in a outstanding time of 26.14 seconds, breaking the decade old meet record of 26.43 seconds, held by Badger Swim Club and University of California star Ryan Emanuel.

"Liam is a very dedicated swimmer," said Orienta Head Coach Shannon Bolger. "He works hard and we're very happy and excited for him."

Earlier in the day, Aventuro, a breaststroke specialist, finished a close second in the boys 13-and-under 200-Yard IM with a time of 2 minutes and 12.34 seconds, less than one second behind winner Marcel Legros of Yorktown.

"I'm horrible at butterfly, so I know that I'm going to get behind in that," Aventuro said. "I was just trying to gain a little bit in backstroke, catch up a lot in breaststroke, and try to win it in the freestyle. I knew it'd be really close."

Winged Foot Golf Club's Nicole Katchis and Jack Collins both earned top eight finishes and medals in the 12-and-under 50-yard Butterfly, placing fourth and sixth respectively.

After two days of competition, the Larchmont Yacht Club sits in fourth in the girls team scores with 47 points, and eighth in the combined team scores with 58 points. Larchmont Shore Club is currently in 14th in the girls scores with 17 points, and 22nd in the combined scores with 19 points. Heading into Wednesday, Orienta is in fourth position in the boys team scores with 42 points, and 10th in the combined scores with 43 points.