The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Three records fall in Northwestern’s win
Kamianowski, Royer, Frey, and Traub smash team record
WINSTED » Northwestern’s swimming and diving team broke three records on its way to a 9682 win over Shepaug Saturday afternoon at the Winsted YMCA.
The Highlanders are defending Berkshire League champions, but the Spartans, the only league team with its own pool, reigned for years before Northwestern began to match traditional big numbers with speed and talent.
“It’s still a cycle,” said coach Mary DiMauro. “We have a small senior class and a big junior class. Shepaug’s student population is shrinking.”
“Northwestern is an army; they have so much depth,” said new Spartan coach Chris Popsin, a former assistant coach at Holy Cross.
Depth has always been a Northwestern weapon. The Highlanders reminded fans they have added speed in the very first event – the 200 medley relay.
Peter Kamianowski, Christian Royer, Braden Frey and Ricky Traub won it in a school-record 1:58.26.
Clearly, the magic of Shepaug in the Northwestern pool was the inspiration.
“Shepaug’s top swimmers are awesome,” said Coach DiMauro.
Dan Ong and Colin Decker proved that with Spartan wins in the 200-meter freestyle and 200 Individual Medley.
Frey and Traub went one-two in the 50 freestyle to stake the claim that, now, Northwestern swimmers, too, are awesome.
The score was already 39-23, Northwestern, as proof. The proof kept coming. Highlander Dan Winkler, one of the league’s best soccer goalkeepers in the fall, took up diving last year.
“I started with the harder dives. I was such a fool last year,” he laughs.
Saturday, showing nearperfection in some of the hardest dives on the competition list, Winkler’s willingness to fail and work all summer on success, turned pure gold.
He set a pool record with a 185.30 final score.
“It was the intensity with Shepaug,” he said. “I felt, ‘Today’s the day for it.’”
It was, indeed, a day for records.
Kamianowski, part of one record already in the first relay race, came close to a 100-meter butterfly record three times in his career, but the 1:02.00 mark set by former Shepaug coach and Northwestern graduate Todd Dyer still sparkled on the pool record board from 1987.
Saturday was the day. Kamianowski smashed Dyerl’s record with a 1:00.94.
“I feel really good,” he grinned.
Dyer, in the audience after years as Shepaug coach, stepped down this year to coach his own 12-year-old twins and another 10-year-old.
“It was hard,” he said, “because these are my kids, too.”
No coaching could have helped the Spartans Saturday.
Northwestern’s Royer won the 100 freestyle. Then Kamianowski was back for his third win of the day, in the 400-meter freestyle, followed by teammate Kiley Stotler.
A Highlander win in the 200 freestyle relay by Tony Pucino, Traub, Stotler and Frey pushed Northwestern past the can’t-lose mark, 96-44.
The rest of the meet went exhibition (Northwestern scores were not recorded).
Shepaug is now 8-2, with a non-league loss to Water tow n.
The Highlanders are 9-0, with a non-league win over Woodland.
Both teams venture further outside the league for tough competition.
The Spartans go up against Avon and Holy Cross.
Northwestern climbs a wicked trail beginning February 18 with a rematch at Shepaug, followed by Torrington on the 21st and Holy Cross on the 24th.