Greenwich High School boys swimming team claims 10th consecutive CIAC Class LL Championship, 38th state title overall

By David Fierro on March 14, 2024 • ( Leave a comment )

**Photo by Trudy Clark:** Members of the Greenwich High School boys swimming team gather with head coach Terry Lowe, left and assistant coach James Ramaley, right, after winning the team title at the CIAC Class LL Championships.

Once again, Greenwich High School’s boys swimming team showed its at the head of the class at the Class LL Championships.

The Cardinals captured the team title at the CIAC Class LL Swimming Championships held at Wesleyan University in Middletown on Tuesday night, doing so in dominant fashion.

Greenwich won the team title at the Class LL Championships for the 10th straight season, compiling an impressive 852 points. Norwalk/McMahon, which also has a strong team, finished second in the team standings, posting 641 points. Glastonbury was third (559 points), while North Haven co-op finished fourth (355 points) and Fairfield co-op took fifth (343).

Senior Kegan Clark won two individual events for Greenwich, which captured the first-place medal for the Cardinals, who won five events, overall on their way to winning the Class LL championship. Coached by Terry Lowe, the Cardinals have now won an unmatched 38 Class LL swimming titles.

**Photo courtesy of Trudy Clark:** Greenwich senior Kegan Clark displays his gold medal after winning the 200-yard freestyle title at the CIAC Class LL Swimming Championships at Wesleyan University.

Clark, one of the Cardinals’ captains, gave the squad its first victory at the Class LL finals at Wesleyan University. Clark finished first in the 200-yard freestyle, registering a time of 1:40.71 and giving GHS 30 points in the team standings. Campbell McFall, a Glastonbury senior, was the runner-up (1:40.95).

Clark also claimed the gold medal in the 100-yard freestyle event, winning the Class LL title with a time of 45.63 seconds, producing 30 more points for the Cards. Norwalk/McMahon senior Mike Kvashuk placed second in 46.69. Junior Luke Mendelsohn was the 100-yard breaststroke winner, touching the wall in 57.12 seconds. Teammate Colin Bucaria, a sophomore, finished fourth in the 100 breaststroke (1:02.12). Connor McMahon was ninth for GHS (1:03.50).

In the 200-yard freestyle relay race, Greenwich took the Class LL title. Mendelsohn, junior Jake Melley, senior captain Felix Flakstad and Clark combined for a championship time of 1:24.77. The victory gave GHS 60 team points. Norwalk/McMahon was the runner-up in 1:25.81. The meet concluded with Greenwich winning the 400-yard freestyle relay. Flakstad, Hadden Wood, Melley and Clark teamed up for a winning time of 3:08.69. Glastonbury finished in second place in the 400 freestyle relay.

**Photo by Trudy Clark:** Luke Mendelsohn swims to a first-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke at the Class LL finals.

The 200-yard medley relay saw the Cardinals place second with a time of 1:38.73. Wim McCarthy, Mendelsohn, Wood and Charlie Ginste competed in the 200 medley relay for the Cards, who also recently won another FCIAC championship, recently. Flakstad had a second-place finish in the 200-yard individual medley at the Class LL finals, earning a time of 1:52.51, giving the team 27 points in the standings. Wyatt Vitiello, a Norwalk/McMahon sophomore, was the 200 IM champion (1:51.20). Mendelsohn finished third in the 200 IM (1:53.02), while Bucaria took fourth (1:57.84).

Wood, a junior, registered a second-place finish in the 100 butterfly, earning the silver medal in 51.91. Greg Bound, a senior, took fourth, while Melley was fifth in the 100 butterfly for the Cardinals. Greenwich scored a lot of points in the butterfly with three top-five finishes (76 points). Jack Watson of Glastonbury claimed the gold medal in the 100 butterfly (51.65).

In the 500-yard freestyle, Flakstad was the runner-up for GHS (4:38.16). The race was won by Cody Lonsberry, an Enfield junior, in 4:36.06. Sophomore Jack Smith of Greenwich was seventh in the 500 freestyle (4:50.34). Greenwich received a seventh-place showing from McCarthy in the 100 backstroke (55.73) and a ninth-place finish from junior Luke Merrill (55.76). Vitiello of Norwalk/McMahon won the Class LL title in the 100 backstroke.

**Photo courtesy of Trudy Clark**: Greenwich’s 200-yard freestyle relay team gathers after winning the CIAC Class LL title.

Melley took sixth in the 50 freestyle in the Class LL competition (21.90 seconds). Kvaschuk was the champion in the race for Norwalk/McMahon (21.09).

Besides the Class LL finals being a championship meet, it also served as a qualifier for the CIAC State Open Championships, which takes place on Saturday at Yale University. The meet is scheduled to begin Saturday at 1 p.m.

Greenwich, the defending State Open champion, will once again, be well-represented at the State Open due to its championship efforts at the Class LL meet.

Clark is seeded first in the State Open in the 100 freestyle and third in the 200-yard freestyle. Flakstad and Mendelsohn are seeded third and fourth, respectively, in the 200 IM in the State Open, while Flakstad is the No. 4 seed in the 500-yard freestyle. The Cardinals are seeded first in both the 200 and 400 freestyle relay events and Mendelsohn is the No. 2 seed in the 100 breaststroke. Wood is seeded sixth for GHS in the 100 butterfly.