Liam Knight, a junior, led the East Hampton High School boys swimming team to a third-place finish in the League 2 championship meet at Sachem East High School on Jan. 27, accounting for 80 of the team’s 225 points in the four events he swam, the 100 and 200 freestyle races, which he won, and as a member of the second-place 400 free relay team and the fourth-place 200 free relay team.
Moreover, his winning time of one minute and 46.58 seconds in the 200 free qualified him for the state meet, which is to be held at Ithaca College on March 7 and 8.
Craig Brierley, the team’s coach, said in an emailed report that his swimmers had turned in 13 “lifetime best times” in the meet, and that he’ll be taking eight of them — Knight, Nicky Chavez, Cristian Sigua, Dylan Knapik, Oskar Merseburg, Zeb Ryan, Jasper Samuelson, and Ariel Ruggiero — to the county championship meet, which is to be held Saturday at Stony Brook University.
East Hampton’s 200 medley relay team of Sigua, Chavez, Knapik, and Merseburg qualified for the county meet by virtue of its third-place finish. Chavez’s runner-up finishes in the 200 individual medley and the 100 backstroke qualified him to swim those events in the county meet. Knapik qualified by finishing fourth in the league meet’s 50 freestyle race. Knight qualified as the result of winning the 100 and 200 freestyle races, and as a member (along with Ryan, Ruggiero, and Chavez) of the second-place 400 free relay team and the fourth-place 200 free relay team (along with Ryan, Samuelson, and Knapik).
Brierley said Knight turned in “a massive effort” in winning the league’s 200 freestyle race, which he won by .4 seconds. “The other standout,” he said, “was Chavez, a sophomore, who went best times in all four of his events. He had to dig deep for his final race, the 400 free relay, and still went a best time.”
“While the team was missing Ben Kriegsman, who was sick, we welcomed back Ariel Ruggiero, a freshman, who has been out for a while because of an illness. . . . He placed fifth in the 500 free and eighth in the 200 free, a big ask that he handled admirably, even with minimal training prior to the meet. Another freshman stepping up was Jasper Samuelson. Jasper has progressed quickly during the season and earned an important support role in the 50, 100, and 200 freestyle events. By finishing 11th in the 100, 12th in the 200, and by helping the 200 free relay team to finish fourth, he collected 25 points for the team.”
“The largest time drops came from two freshmen — Watts Comly-Bolick, who in finishing seventh in the 200 I.M. pared 5.2 seconds off his previous best time, and Luca Speranza, who, in finishing 18th in the 100 breast bettered his previous best by 5 seconds. Another tip-of-the-hat goes to Oskar Merseburg, a freshman who finished fifth in the 100 breaststroke, 12th in the 50 free, and swam the breaststroke leg on the fourth-place medley relay team. . . . With this strong group of freshmen the future looks to be a good one.”
The team’s captains, Sigua (seventh in the butterfly and backstroke) and Jack Zeimer (10th in the 500 free) named Knight as swimmer of the meet.
