Back on top.

That’s where the Greenwich High School girls swimming/diving team is after enjoying a meet to remember at Saturdays’ FCIAC Championships.

Winning five events, posting numerous impressive times and showcasing its standout depth, Greenwich won the team title at the 2023 FCIAC Swimming Championships before a spirited, packed-house last night at Greenwich High School.

After a one-season hiatus, the Cardinals reclaimed the crown, winning the team title at the FCIAC Championships, amassing 465 team points.

Ridgefield, which won its second FCIAC championship in team history last season, was the runner-up in the standings, registering 399 points. Darien finished third (225), followed by Fairfield Ludlowe (179), New Canaan (178) and Trumbull (155). Staples (134), Wilton (129), Fairfield Warde (124) and Norwalk/McMahon (115) rounded out the top-10 teams.

For Greenwich, the victory marked its 31^st FCIAC team championship, the most of any program in the conference. Prior to Saturday night, the Cardinals last captured the FCIAC title in 2021. They placed third behind Ridgefield and Darien in 2022.

“Our depth is what helped us tonight,” Greenwich coach Brendan Heller said. “To have three or four people in almost every event – the depth of our team is what carried us through tonight.”

It certainly didn’t take long for Greenwich to make its mark in last night’s FCIAC final. The quartet of senior Payton Foster, senior Sydney Jee, junior Sena Bozkurt and junior Sofia Wang combined to win the 200-yard medley relay in an FCIAC championship meet record time of 1:44.50. Greenwich set the previous record in the event in 2021 in 1:45.23 – Bozkurt and Wang also swam on that relay squad.

“We’ve been targeting that all season,” Heller said of the 200-yard medley relay. “We have four people who can do all four strokes. We haven’t put that combination together this year, we were saving it for this moment. It was awesome, I’m really proud of them for putting it together – a Greenwich High program record.”

Foster led off the 200-yard medley relay for the Cards, followed by Jee, Bozkurt, with Wang anchoring the event.

“I love relays, I’ve always loved relays at this meet,” said Foster, who rejoined the Cardinals this season, after competing primarily at the club level in 2022. “I think it’s the best part of this meet, it’s so fun and I’m so glad to be able to do it with my teammates.”

Said Wang, who also came back to the Greenwich squad this fall, after being away one season ago: “I’m really excited about our 200 medley that we beat a record. “It’s a good step up for us. Last year a lot of us weren’t there and we came back at FCIACs and broke a record – it was great.”

Foster received the FCIAC Outstanding Swimmer Award for her accomplishments. She also captured the FCIAC title in the 200-yard individual medley and the 500-yard freestyle. In the 200 IM, Foster touched the wall in an All-American consideration time of 2:02.89. Fairfield Ludlowe sophomore Ella Gussen finished second in 2:06.43, while Ridgefield junior Riley McGerald placed third (2:07.82). Jee took fourth in the race, clocking in at 2:08.09 and Bozkurt was fifth in 2:10.16.

“The 200 – it was a tough race, I’m pretty happy with my time and we’ll see what happens going forward,” Foster said. “Winning the FCIAC championship is awesome, especially with these girls. We’re all best friends, so it’s really exciting.”

Foster was the FCIAC 500 freestyle champion, posting a time of 4:59.02, while giving GHS 20 more points in the standings. Ava Ward, a Ridgefield sophomore, was the runner-up in 5:07.42, while teammate Keira Giles, a junior, took third (5:08.11) and Cardinals freshman Ellison Charette finished fourth (5:08.18).

“It was a pretty tough one, it’s definitely hard mentally doing that many laps,” Foster said of swimming the 500 freestyle. “But it was a really fun race and a lot of good competitors, so it was exciting.”

“Payton loves to get up and race and when she’s dialed in, there’s not a lot of people who can keep up with her,” Heller noted. “I’m really happy and proud of her for being a part of our team and being a great leader for the younger kids and being the FCIAC Swimmer of the Meet.”

Jee, one of the Cardinals’ captains, successfully defended her FCIAC title in the 100-yard breaststroke race. She won the event with a time of 1:04.91. McGerald of Ridgefield took second (1:06.07), followed by Gussen of Ludlowe (1:07.08).

“It felt really good, trials was a little rough for me, but it felt really good,” Jee said of winning the 100 breaststroke.

Jee has been a part of two Greenwich FCIAC championship teams. In 2021, she was a member of Cardinals team that captured the triple crown – the FCIAC, Class LL and State Open championships.

“It was a really full circle moment,” Jee noted. “We won my sophomore year, freshman year was COVID and it’s really full circle. Our team chemistry this year was really amazing. It’s exciting to end on a good note. That was a good last swim at our own pool.”

“Sydney has had a great senior season,” Heller said. “She worked really hard this summer in her training for this season and she’s been doing great. I’m glad to see her having fun and racing.”

Bozkurt claimed the gold medal in the 100 backstroke for GHS, touching the wall in 57.49. Adrianna Spelman, a Fairfield Warde freshman, was second (58.81) and New Canaan junior Samantha Haley (1:00.00) finished third.

“It was a little tough, because I had just come out of the relay about five minutes before,” Bozkurt said of the 100 backstroke. “But in the ready room, we had some people on our team there, so we got each other excited and everyone was really nice that I went against. So, I got the energy up and I went off the first wall and I just tried to keep it up.”

As is always the case, the atmosphere was electric during Saturday’s FCIAC Championships at GHS.

“It’s very loud and very exciting,” Bozkurt said. “Even when you’re not feeling great, you hear everyone and you are like, all right, I have to lock in, I have to go. There’s a lot of adrenaline, a lot of excitement. It is definitely one of the best racing environments.”

Ward took top honors in the 200 freestyle, winning the race for Ridgefield in 1:52.28. Giles gave the Tigers a second-place finish in 1:55.03 and St. Joseph sophomore Emmy Beach was third. Ellison posted a fifth-place finish in the 200 freestyle for the Cardinals, clocking in at 1:56.26.

Fairfield Ludlowe senior Kathleen Murray earned the gold medal in the 50-yard freestyle in a close race. Murray notched a winning time of 23.54 seconds, a blink of an eye ahead of runner-up of Ridgefield junior Lily Archibald (23.65). Wang was third for the Cards (24.24), followed by Ridgefield junior Madeline Muncy (24.58).

“I swam really fast, which I’m really excited about,” Wang said. I got a lot of best times. It’s great to be back and it’s great to focus on swimming and a lot of team bonding stuff as well.”

Ludlowe’s Murray has proven to be one of the premier sprinters in the FCIAC and state.

“My 50 free, I was really excited about it,” Murray said. “It’s a fun race for me, I don’t really get to swim it a lot. It’s very fast-paced and I just go out and have fun. A lot of the girls I swam against I’ve known for years, and they were great people to be with.”

Murray’s second individual FCIAC title came in the 100-yard freestyle. She claimed the gold medal in an All-American consideration time of 50.65 seconds. Ridgefield junior Bridget Kelly had a second-place finish (52.82), followed by Trumbull sophomore Alexis Abellard (53.58).

“The 100 free is pretty much my main race,” Murray said. “I had a plan for it and felt confident with this race. I had a plan for what I was going to do and I just executed it well.”

Sophomore Wesley Wales finished fifth in 54.52, while teammate Kesington Worden, a freshman took eighth (55.24) in the 100 freestyle for Greenwich.

The FCIAC Diving Championships was held Thursday night at Westhill and sophomore Emma Kelly of New Canaan earned the first-place medal. She totaled a winning score of 428.0 over 11 rounds of diving. Norwalk/McMahon senior Alison Kolman finished second in the diving finals (381.50), while Darien senior Annelise Enters (368.40), New Canaan freshman Julie Frangione (359.95) and Greenwich senior captain Ava Vranos (351.60) were third-fifth, respectively.

Senior Elizabeth Scharff (313.05), sophomore Kristen Jacks (308.25) and senior Jennifer Newi (299.05) were 8-10, respectively in the FCIAC Diving finals for the Cardinals, who entered the swimming portion of the conference championship meet with 41 points, courtesy of their divers.

Archibald won the FCIAC title in the 100 butterfly, finishing the race in an All-American consideration time of 55.37 for Ridgefield. Elissa Egerton, a Ridgefield senior, placed second (58.70), Wang took third for Greenwich (58.75) and senior Kristen Racicot finished fourth for Trumbull (59.39). For Greenwich, sophomore Melissa Geiger finished fourth in the butterfly, registering a time of 59.50.

Ridgefield captured the gold medal in both the 200 and 400 freestyle relay races. In the 200 freestyle relay, the Tigers posted a first-place, All-American consideration time of 1:37.14. Greenwich was second in 1:38.94. The meet concluded with Archibald, McGerald, Giles and Ward of Ridgefield combining to win the 400-yard freestyle relay in an All-American consideration time of 3:29.29.

“I told the girls we were going to stick with what we had at trials,” Ridgefield coach Paul Marchese said of the 400 freestyle relay. “They did really well, they worked really hard all week and the last few months together.”

Foster, Wales, Wang and Charette were second in the 400 freestyle relay in 3:30.28.

“I’m proud of Greenwich to keep that competition up and helping push us to higher limits,” Marchese said. “Our meet that we are going for is LLs and Open so we are going to go back to work and see what happens. We had a lot of sophomores and freshmen who did really well. As a team everyone progressed.”

“Greenwich also posted an All-American consideration time in the 400 freestyle relay.

“We were happy to take second with a good time for us,” Heller said. “We want to see what we can get down to when we get to states.”

Said senior Anabelle Guarnera, one of the Cardinals’ captains: “We had best times and season bests all-around the whole team, so I’m really proud of everyone – especially the freshmen, who were able to pull it out for the first time this year.”

Greenwich’s next challenge is the CIAC Class LL Championships. The Class LL trials are scheduled for Nov. 11 at Cornerstone Aquatic Center at 4:30 p.m. The Class LL finals will take place on Nov. 14 at Wesleyan University at 6 p.m.

“We’re all really excited to go into states and win it again, since we lost last year,” said Guarnera, who placed 12th in the 200 freestyle (2:00.66). “We have a week in-between between the FCIAC finals and LL trials and we’re all ready to start tapering.”

“I’m really excited, I think our team has so much depth and I think that’s going to be great for us,” Foster said of the upcoming state competition. Whatever happens, I’m happy about how far we’ve come so far.”

Indeed, Foster is pleased to have such a productive senior season.

“It’s awesome, my freshman and sophomore year were so much fun and coming back has been what I’ve pictured it to be. It’s great to have one final season.”