On Thursday, Aug. 4, the Lake Isle Swim Team put the finishing touches on its successful defense of its 2015 title at the Westchester County Swim Championships, beating the rest of the county’s top swim teams at the Rye Playland Pool. Scoring 361 combined points, Lake Isle ran away with the competition, besting second-place finisher Wykagyl Country Club by 85 points.
Coming into last week’s event, Lake Isle had enjoyed more than a decade of dominance at the county meet. With 10 Lake Isle wins since 2005, head coach Kevin Lavelle said he expected his swimmers to once again be in the hunt for another title.
“We knew it was a possibility, but we had a lot of stiff competition with Wykagyl and the Chappaqua Swim Team,” he said. “They were very strong this year, but we knew we had the ability to compete with them.”
Lake Isle’s performance in the girls’ events proved the difference-maker, Lavelle added. While the boys’ team managed to outpoint Wykagyl 154-153, the girls were able to put some separation between themselves and the second-place finishers, scoring 207 points to top their opponents by 83.
The 10U girls 200-meter freestyle and medley relay teams, comprised of Kait Sweeney, Claire Weinstein, Malaya Lathan and Sophia Colasacco, shined the brightest, setting new county records in the two events. The squad posted a time of 2:23.47 in the medley relay and turned in a blistering 2:05.61 in the freestyle event.
Weinstein, Sweeney and Lathan were the top-three point scorers in the division, respectively.
“The girls were really amazing,” Lavelle said. “In most years, it’s our boys who are the stronger side, but they really did a great job this year.”
On the boys’ end, Lake Isle’s Nick Torres managed to set two county records and become the second-place overall scorer in the 14U division, despite participating on just two of the four days of the event.
Torres, 14, has been swimming with Lake Isle for years, and has continually impressed the coaching staff with his ability in the water.
“He was setting records when he was 9 years old and he’s still setting records,” Lavelle said. “We even put him in some of the 17-and-under races.”
With its latest win at Counties, the Lake Isle team looked to replicate that success at the Conference Championships this past week. The event kicked off on Monday, Aug. 8, and will conclude on Thursday, Aug. 11 at the Westchester Country Club, after press time.
According to Lavelle, Lake Isle’s competition is going to come from a familiar foe.
“We hope to do well, but it’s going to be difficult,” the head coach said. “Wykagyl is tough, and it’s going to be a tough competition.”
