By TONY BELLISSIMO
Long Beach continued its dominance of the Nassau County boys' swimming scene by capturing its fourth straight team title last Saturday at the Nassau County Aquatic Center at Eisenhower Park.
The Marines, who also enjoyed an undefeated dual meet season, won four events en route to totaling 467 points. It is their 14th county championship under Coach Woody Davis, who has been at the helm of the program since 1964. Garden City was a distant second, with 347 points, and Farmingdale finished third with 303.
"We had some tremendous times," Davis said. "To come up with that many points surprised me a bit."
Junior Adam Winerip provided Long Beach with a jump-start to the crown when he won the 1-meter diving last Thursday with a score of 376.35 points. Freshman Nicholas Smith finished sixth. "It was something Adam was capable of, and he was sharp," Davis said. "He's got the talent. He's not afraid to try the difficult dives."
Junior Kyle Swan won the 50-yard freestyle in 21.95 seconds, and was a member of the winning 400 freestyle relay team (3:17.25) along with senior Billy Papetti, junior Tim Corrigan and sophomore Tim Cabasino. Papetti was runner-up in the 50 free in 22.34.
"Kyle's chasing Ben's [Gross] school record in the 50 free," Davis said. "It was a nice win for him, and Billy was right there too. It always helps when you finish 1-2 in any event."
Papetti, Cabasino, and seniors Matthew Demerest and Mike Skudin teamed up to win the 200 freestyle relay in 1:29.39, while the Marines' 200 medley relay foursome finished second by the slimmest of margins. Swan (backstroke), Demerest (breaststroke), Corrigan (butterfly) and Skudin (freestyle) finished in 1:41.90. "The medley relay came down to a touch," Davis explained. "It was tough to tell who won."
Corrigan was second in 200 individual medley, finishing in 2:00.74, and second in the 100 butterfly with a time of 53.35. "He had as good a day as anyone," Davis said.
Next up for the Marines is the state championship meet, to be held in Buffalo the first weekend of March. Davis will be taking a minimum of seven swimmers, including Winerip and Swan. "We've got a couple of weeks to work on things," Davis said.
