The MVRHS swim team hosted Nantucket on Saturday, then traveled to Fall River on Monday to take on Bishop Connolly. The two meets resulted in some individual successes by Vineyard swimmers, but no team wins. The girls lost both meets, while the boys fell to Nantucket before earning a tie with Bishop.
Nantucket is a swimming juggernaut, and carries a combined roster of 47 boys and girls, 37 of whom made the trip on Saturday. In comparison, the Vineyard team numbers 21 members, a handful of them middle schoolers. In several of the 22 individual and relay events of the meet, the Nantucket swimmers swam unopposed, and the final scores reflected the numerical disparity of the two programs: the Nantucket girls won by a 100-37 margin; the boys by 88-49. In the process, Nantucket swimmers broke six pool records.
Despite the one-sided outcomes, the Vineyarders had their moments. Junior tri-captain Gabby Carr took first place in the 100 yard backstroke with a time of 1:06:48, and second place in the 100 butterfly. For the boys, sophomore co-captain Ruairi Mullin finished second in both the 200 freestyle and the 100 butterfly. Another second place went to the 400 freestyle relay team of Christian Flanders, Nick Lytle, Nathan Cuthbert, and Ruairi Mullin.
On Monday the swim team faced the Bishop Connolly Cougars on the road. This match was more evenly contested, the boys tying 44-44 and the girls losing 52-40. Both Vineyard teams featured strong individual and relay performances. Christian Flanders and Ruairi Mullin dominated the freestyle events. Christian took both the 50 (25:50) and the 100 (58.53), while Ruairi won the 200 (2:10.44) and 500 (5:53.86). The boys swept the freestyle relays as well. The team of Noah Lawry, Emmett Silva, Nathan Cuthbert, and Christian Flanders won the 200 in 1:56.19, while Ruairi, Emmett, Nathan, and Christian captured the 400 in 4:17.19.
Meanwhile, Gabby Carr swam a 2:27.50 pace in the 200 individual medley to win the race and qualify for the Sectional competition at season’s end. She followed up with a first in the 100 backstroke (1:09.25). The girls freestyle relay team won the 400-yard race in 4:51.53.
“We had a lot of best times over the past two meets,” said Coach Jon Chatinover, “especially from our younger swimmers. We’re working on a lot of things, and focusing on the Conference Championships on Saturday, Feb, 1.”
In the meantime, the Vineyard faces a busy stretch. After hosting Sacred Heart on Thursday at 3:15, they will travel to Barnstable High on Friday, and then take on Nauset High on Saturday at Sandwich High School.
