Greenwich boys swimming team claims its ninth straight CIAC Class LL championship

By David Fierro on March 18, 2023 • ( Leave a comment )

Photo courtesy of Trudy Clark: Members of the Greenwich High School boys swimming team gather with coach Terry Lowe and Joan Lynch at the conclusion of the CIAC Class LL Swimming Championships, which they won at Cornerstone Aquatics Center in West Hartford on March 16, 2023.

Winning seven events and producing numerous top-eight finishes, the Greenwich High School boys swimming team added yet another CIAC Class LL championship to its collection and it did so in emphatic fashion.

The Cardinals swam to standout times and impressive finishes at the CIAC Class LL Championships and when the 18-team meet concluded on Thursday at Cornerstone Aquatics Center in West Hartford, they amassed 924 points and garnered another state title.

Greenwich finished first in the team standings again, winning its 37th Class LL title with their eye-opening 924-point total in the championship meet. The Cardinals have now won nine consecutive CIAC Class LL state swimming titles.

Ridgefield was the runner up with 496 points, followed by Glastonbury (495) and Southington (431) and Hamden (397.5). Besides being a championship meet, the Class LL Championships also served as a qualifier for the CIAC State Open Championships, which will be held Saturday (March 17) at Yale University. The State Open is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. and Greenwich has put itself in position to claim the team title by qualifying a good number of swimmers for the season-ending championship meet.

**Photo by Trudy Clark**: Greenwich’s Aiden Bucaria stands atop the podium after winning the 200 individual medley title at the CIAC Class LL Championships on March 16, 2023. Teammate Liam Flaherty, next to Bucaria on the right, placed second, while Cardinals teammate Luke Mendelsohn, standing at Flaherty’s right, finished fourth.

Greenwich’s first victory at the Class LL Championships came in the first event of the meet – the 200-yard medley relay. Liam Flaherty, Aiden Bucaria, Evan Belmont and Noah Barrett combined to record a winning time of 1:34.02, giving the Cardinals 60 team points. Bucaria, a senior, won the 200-yard individual medley for Greenwich with a time of 1:50.73. Flaherty, also a senior, took second, clocking in at 1:51.63. Teammate Luke Mendelsohn, a sophomore, was fourth in 1:54.03. Kalen Anbar of Norwalk/McMahon finished third (1:54.02).

The 200-yard freestyle saw junior Kegan Clark, senior Evan Belmont, senior Ioane Maglakelidze and Barrett (a sophomore), combine for a winning finish of 1:26.43. Flaherty earned the gold medal in the 100 backstroke for GHS, touching the wall in 51.61 seconds. Teammate Zachary Chalnick, a senior was eighth for the Cardinals (55.17).

Bucaria was the Class LL champion in the 100-yard breaststroke, posting a time of 55.45 seconds. Mendelsohn finished fourth (58.69), while teammate Daniel Sichtnik had a sixth-place finish (1:00.01). Anbar of Norwalk/McMahon was the runner-up in the event (57.70).

**Photo by Trudy Clark**: Noah Barrett of Greenwich posted a second-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle at the Class LL Championships at Cornerstone Aquatics Center in West Hartford.

The meet concluded with Clark, Flakstad, Flaherty and Bucaria giving GHS a first-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:06.61). Ridgefield placed a very close second (3:06.85).

Senior Whitaker Grover earned the gold medal in the diving event, winning the Class LL title by totaling 560.30 points over 11 rounds. Jayden Satir, a senior, was third on the 1-meter diving board in the Class LL competition (487 points).

**Photo courtesy of Trudy Clark**: Greenwich’s Felix Flakstad, far left, placed sixth in the 200-yard freestyle race at the Class LL Championships and teammate Kegan Clark, far right, finished sixth in the event.

In the 50-yard freestyle finals, Barrett placed second in 21.37 seconds. Nathaniel Taft (Fairfield co-op) earned the first-place medal (21.06). Seniors Charles Kosinski and Evan Belmont were seventh and ninth respectively, for the Cardinals in the 50 freestyle.

Clark took the silver medal in the 100-yard freestyle, posting a time of 46.58 seconds. Barrett was fifth (47.85) and Kosinski finished eighth (48.71). Taft of Fairfield co-op was the champion in the event, clocking in at 46.08.

**Photo courtesy of Trudy Clark**: Noah Barrett of Greenwich, far left, stands on the podium after finishing fifth in the 100 freestyle at the Class LL finals. Greenwich’s Kegan Clark, stands on the podium after placing second in the race.

A junior, Flakstad finished second in Class LL in the 500 freestyle, showing his endurance with a time of 4:36.09. Ridgefield junior Jack Clancy swam to the 500 freestyle title (4:30.08).

**Photo by Trudy Clark**: Aiden Bucaria of Greenwich, third from left, stands on the podium after winning the 100 breaststroke race at the Class LL swimming finals. Teammate Luke Mendelsohn placed fourth in the race and next to him on the right is Cardinals teammate Daniel Sichtnik, who finished sixth in the event.

In the 200-yard freestyle finals, Flakstad finished fifth in 1:42.52. Clancy took top honors (1:39.95), followed by runner-up Riley Twiss of Staples (1:40.26).

**Photo by Trudy Clark:** Liam Flaherty won two events at the Class LL finals on March 16, 2023.

Belmont was fifth for Greenwich in the 100 butterfly (52.55). Teammates Hadden Wood, a sophomore (53.33) and Gregory Bound, a junior, (53.93) were eighth and ninth, respectively for the Cards in the 100 butterfly.