Young Sea Dogs have their day

By Greg Lederer Special to the Record-Journal

CHESHIRE With just two seniors on the roster, this summer, the Cheshire Y/Sea Dog Swim Club took a mostly new squad to Greensboro, N.C. for the YMCA Long Course National Championship.

Despite being on the younger side, the local swimmers held their own against top competition. The Sea Dogs compiled 93 points to tie the Wilton Y/ Wahoos for 20th place overall. The girls placed 18th (71) and the boys team came in 26th (22).

“I didn’t have any expectations going in this year; I thought let’s see what we can do,” said Cheshire coach Sean Farrell. “The kids did a tremendous job. I think they were more excited than nervous. ”

Peter Zalewski of Southington was the leading pointscorer for the men’s team. He contributed a 13th place in the 200-meter backstroke (2:09.93) and in the 400-meter freestyle (4:12.83).

Zalewski additionally nabbed 18th in the 400-meter individual medley (4:46.09) and 22nd in the 100-meter backstroke (1:01.04).

“Peter had a great meet,” said Farrell. “He has come a long way. He bought into the process early in the long course season and it showed at that meet.”

Joey Milhomens supplied 18th place in the 200-meter backstroke (2:11.32), 25th in the 200-meter IM (2:15.27) and 26th in the 400-meter IM (4:48.45).

“He did great,” Farrell remarked. “Joey went to the short course (nationals), but he made the finals in multiple events this time. We’ve been waiting for him to have that breakout meet.”

Also for Sea Dog boys, Anthony Tomasko (50-meter backstroke, 19th, 28.37), Connor Booth (50-meter freestyle, 20th, 24.60), Brendan Matos (200-meter butterfly, 21st, 2:12.92), Kellen Booth (800-meter freestyle, 22nd, 9:34.91), and Michael Gauthier (200-meter freestyle, 23rd, 1:59.90) made the Top 25 individually.

For relays, Gauthier, Connor Booth, Tomasko, and Zalewski swam on the 200(19th, 1:39.95) and 400-meter (14th, 3:38.01) freestyle squads. Connor Booth, Kellen Booth, Gauthier, and Zalewski combined to take 13th in the 800-meter freestyle event (8:07.80).

Cheshire medley teams both came in 20th place. Zalewski, Gauthier, Matos, and Connor Booth clocked a time of 1:53.11 in the 200meters. For the 400-meters, Zalewski, Brayden Green, Matos, and Gauthier touched the wall in 4:07.20.

“When you put new people on relays, you don’t always know how they are going to perform,” stated Farrell. “For all of the kids, there were no off swims for relays over the course of the five-day meet.”

For Cheshire women, Kylie McKirryher was the team’s top individual finisher in the 50-meter butterfly (ninth, 28.34). She finished 18th in the 100-meter butterfly (1:04.44), 19th in the 200meter backstroke (2:24.38), and 25th in the 100-meter freestyle (59.40).

“This is only her second Y/ National (meet), but she keeps on getting better,” said Farrell. “She needs to learn to swim faster in the morning, but when the lights go on at night, she turns it on.”

McKirryher teamed with Kaya Tray, Sophie Milhomens, and Laura DeGennaro to finish eighth in the 400-meter medley relay (4:28.09). In the 200-meter medley, Milhomens, Tray, and McKirryher combined with Carly Cahill to finish ninth in 2:01.29.

Tray, McKirryher, Cahill, and DeGennaro made the top-20 in the 200- (16th, 1:51.55) and 400-meter (12th, 4:02.03) freestyle events. McKirryher, Milhomens, Julia Tejeda, and DeGennaro added 15th place in the 800meter freestyle (8:59.22).

“With not having some of our older swimmers at the meet, it opened the door to