Thursday, October 1, 2026
For the second straight year, Long Beach girls’ swimming finished second overall at the 2025 New York State Swimming and Diving Championships on Nov. 22, winning three events and completing another three runner-up swims.
Junior Vivienne Zangaro led the way for the Marines with victories in two individual events, while sophomore Una Diaz won the 200-yard individual medley.
“I'm ecstatic,” Long Beach coach Lynn Volosevich said. “They work so hard. You have no idea how many hours they spend in the pool, every day before school, every morning and then after school. It's just so much time. Everything that they got, they earned.”
Long Beach sent four swimmers to the Webster Aquatic Center for the state championships, with sophomore Finella Moriarty filling in as the fourth member for both relays alongside Zangaro, Diaz and junior Jessica Bassett. Long Beach scored 196 points over the course of the meet, trailing only Hauppauge-Smithtown, three-time champions since 2022.
When Zangaro powered through her final split in the 500-yard freestyle, Volosevich was startled to realize what was at stake. Though she easily broke the county record with a time of 4:44.60, Zangaro fell one-hundredth of a second short of the state record.
“She didn't even realize it,” Volosevich said. “So when we looked up at the time, I was like, ‘oh my God, oh my God.’ But then Vivienne walked around the pool and just said to me, ‘I'll get it next year.’ Completely calm.”
Zangaro notched her second victory in the 200-yard freestyle and earned All-American consideration for her times in both events. She also served as the third leg in the 200-yard medley relay and anchor in the 400-yard freestyle relay, both runner-up swims.
Diaz, the sophomore described by Volosevich as “pure joy,” also earned All-American consideration for both of her individual events. She improved to win the 200-yard individual medley and settled for a close second in the 100-yard backstroke.
Bassett, a valuable relay member who overcame a setback to qualify for the championships, finished seventh in the 100-yard individual medley and 12th in the 100-yard backstroke.
When Volosevich decided that Moriarty was the deserving fourth member for relays in Webster, the coach said that the sophomore appeared nervous. Her improvement in both events was integral to Long Beach’s runner-up finishes.
Volosevich works with local swimmers from a young age and has been alongside all four girls from childhood. At the end of another magical season, she doesn’t want anything more for them than she did in the beginning.
“I just want them to know how important they are and how special they are, and that their sport matters,” Volosevich said. “It's kind of an issue for us. We sometimes don't feel like it's deemed as important as other sports. I think they put swimming and our little team on the map. They did, and it was just four girls that did it.”
