GREENE
Greene’s swimming program will again find itself in the David role versus the Goliaths of STAC, but head coach Mike Platta has regularly used that size disadvantage as a motivational tactic.
“We’re by far the smallest team in STAC, and we’re the second smallest swimming team in Section IV,” Platta said. “But if we stay healthy, we’ll be competitive with the teams we’re supposed to be competitive against. It is a challenge facing a bigger school every meet, but it forces us to pick up the intensity.”
Seniors and team captains Julia Arboit and Margo McDermott anchor the Greene lineup. Arboit is a sprint freestyle swimmer, and McDermott competes in the backstroke and distance events. The rest of the front line includes Taylor Wahlers at diving and sprint freestyle; Audrey Platta in the middle distances and sprints; and sophomores Kailey Yanusas, Marissa Pavlovich, and Nicole Flohr. Yanusas is an IM/butterfly specialist; Pavlovich swims the breaststroke, while Flohr is also in the backstroke and middle distance races.
Arboit was a sectional finalist a year ago in the 50 free, Yanusas reached the finals of the 100 butterly and 200 free, and Greene’s 200 free relay – most of whom are back – had the team’s top sectional place finish winding up fourth.
“If we get maximum effort out of the kids, I don’t see any reason why we can’t put more kids in the sectional finals,” Platta said. “It’s a challenging schedule this year, and that should elevate our team’s effort.”
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NORWICH
While short in number of kids, Norwich is long in talent with potential sectional finalists in every event. It’s a mix of veterans and young up-and-coming stars who could push Norwich to another top-three finish in Class B this season.
“We might not fill three lanes in every race, but we’ll fill as many as possible, and I expect the younger kids to get stronger and stronger,” said Norwich coach Kevin Diefenbacher. “As long as everyone stays healthy, like any sports team, we should do fairly well.”
Diefenbacher said his team is comprised of less than 15 kids, so against the top of the league, that shortage of depth could be exposed. From the top of the lineup, Norwich has the majority of its medley relay team back. In the 200 free, Lexi Laundry and Susan Ward offer a nice one-two punch. Eighth-grader Maya Blaisure is likely the frontrunner in the individual medley, and fellow eighth-grader Melissa Stroh is a strong complement to Blaisure. Experienced returning swimmers Danika Tworkowsky and Nicole Mealey will give Norwich a pair of Class B finalists in the 50 free, and Stephanie Meyer returns to the team as a diver.
On the back side of the meet Mary Beth Ward hopes to build on her strong junior year in the butterfly; again Tworkowsky and Mealey lead the way in the 100 free, while Lexi Laundry tops the lineup in the distance freestyle events and Taylor Myers leads in the breaststroke. Lauren Llewellyn is slated in the backstroke, and freshman newcomer Emma Blenis will try her hand in diving behind Meyer.
Giving Diefenbacher a helping hand this year is former head coach Amanda Downey. Diefenbacher once served as Downey’s coach, and the two have also coached together several more years. “It’s been a good working relationship, and we’re glad she is back to help out,” Diefenbacher said of Downey.