New stroke technique aids Horstkamp-Vinekar
BRISTOL – Cumberland High senior captain Ian Horstkamp-Vinekar wanted nothing more from Sunday’s annual Max Read Memorial/Joe & Roy Watmough Invitational Swimming Championships than to help his team rack up some points and attempt to tweak his stroke technique to achieve greater speed.
By meet’s end, it didn’t appear the latter needed much attention.
Still, Horstkamp-Vinekar accomplished so much more, flying to an individual gold medal in the 200-yard freestyle (1:47.07), nearly capturing a second before snagging runner-up in the 100-yard butterfly (52.42) and helping two relays to top-five finishes.
In the process, he propelled the Clippers to seventh overall in the 20-plus team field at the Roger Williams University natatorium.
The tall, lanky Clipper, bound for the New Jersey Institute of Technology after graduation, claimed his first event in 1:47.07, just .39 in front of talented Hendricken freshman Nick Andrews. After resting for perhaps 45-50 minutes, he tried to chase down South County co-op sophomore Drew Jalbert in the 100 butterfly, though fell short by .51 seconds.
“I think I’m more pleased with my (time in the) 200 free,” the congenial, well-spoken Horstkamp-Vinekar admitted later. “I was really trying to work out some chinks in my technique, trying to reach more. I wanted longer arms so I could move more water.
“As for the fly, I was trying to snap my kick for a little more thrust, both on (my) underwaters and on the surface,” he added. “I knew coming in that some faster kids were going to be here, and I wanted to see if I could beat them. I just love to race.
“I like the back-and-forth between competitors during a race, trying to figure out what they’re thinking because you know they’re doing the same. I don’t care if I win or lose – well, at least not a lot; if you lose but you know you put everything you had into a particular race, you should be happy. That means) they just had a little bit more to put into it.”
As stated, Cumberland took seventh overall with 122.5 points, only 4.5 more than both archrival Lincoln and Moses Brown, which tied for eighth with 118.
Hendricken hauled in the team title with 366 points, 25.5 more than runner-up Wayland, Mass. (340.5) and 125.5 ahead of third-place Barrington (240.5). Nantucket placed fourth with 182, and Portsmouth a distant fifth (142), just a single point ahead of No. 6 Framingham.
As for Horstkamp-Vinekar’s outstanding morning/afternoon, he joined juniors Thomas Brennan and Jack Doherty and sophomore Nick Zerva on the fourth-place 200 freestyle relay (1:34.63). That quartet finished only .78 behind runner-up
Barrington.
Horstkamp-Vinekar also combined with the all-class 400 freestyle relay of foursome of Thomas Brennan, freshman (and kid brother) Will Brennan and Zerva to take fifth in 3:29.20. (Actually, the Lions’ huddle of senior captain Ben Goho, freshman Alex Lopes, junior Charlie London and fellow captain McGovern Brown placed a mere .10 back to snare sixth.
“Ian’s a really good kid, the kind of young man who’s as valuable on the pool deck as he is in the water,” McGarry stated of his speedster, who split 22.76 for his anchor leg in the 200 freestyle relay and 50.00 in the latter, neither particularly fast times for him.
“His leadership skills are phenomenal. You know, we can talk about meet lineups and meet strategy like he’s another coach, and a lot of kids look at you like you’ve got four heads.
“He’s very good at concentrating on his own races and what he needs to do, but he also can get the others fired up,” he added. “For a kid who’s so dedicated to USA Swimming and his club team, he’s just as devoted to his high school team, and that’s very unusual. He’s a true captain, and a true joy to talk to.
“He likes and enjoys high school swimming so much, and his conduct, personality and attitude are so refreshing. It’s a real pleasure to be his coach.”
His teammates nevertheless contributed to the team placement. Zerva manufactured a pair of 12ths in the 200 freestyle (1:56.76) and 500 freestyle (5:23.56), while junior Thomas Brennan took 14th in the 200 individual medley (superb clocking of 2:10.81) and brother Will tied for 15th with Moses Brown’s Nate Haronian in the 100 freestyle (53.83).
Classmate Doherty also chipped in a point with a 16th in the 50 freestyle (24.13), but previously had helped his 200 medley relay squad (also consisting of juniors Evan Goddard and Joe Beauvais and senior Aidan Ocampo) to 11th overall (1:54.29).
“We had a lot of kids achieve personal-best times; in fact, I’d say a safe number for PRs in 80 percent,” McGarry offered afterward. “We had six freshmen here, and I think they represented the future of our varsity program very well. For them, it’s a very valuable experience being here; it’s an excellent championship meet, and it’s a dress rehearsal for bigger meets in the near future.
“They’re all going to be back here for the state Division I championships in a few weeks, so from a team perspective, we now know what every other team has in its arsenal and how to prepare for it. Now we know we can develop a championship-meet lineup that will give us the best chance to score as many points as possible.”
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As for Lincoln, head coach Tom DiIorio’s bunch produced several stellar performances, and senior co-captains McGovern Brown and Ben Goho proved to be the top point-getters.
Brown nailed down fifth in the 100 freestyle (51.13) and seventh in the 100 backstroke (56.80), while Goho landed an “OK” 10th in the 50 freestyle (23.77) before thrilling himself, his coaches and teammates with an eighth in stroke (1:04.41).
Brown didn’t seem as enthusiastic after his swims – for good reason. He’s still getting over a bout with pneumonia perhaps seven-eight weeks ago, and is still working himself back into prime condition.
“I can still feel it a little bit,” Brown said. “I’m just trying to get back into swimming shape. I think I’m coming along slowly, based on my times.”
Noted Goho: “The 50 was OK, though I wish the time could have been a little faster. I talked to my coaches (DiIorio and assistant Matt Parenteau), and they said I had to work out a couple of technique problems.
“But the 100 breaststroke? That blew me away!” he continued. “I’m so happy about that; my best time for this (1:04.41) was 1:05.05, so I was over a half-second faster. I’m just thrilled! I hoped for that time here, but I didn’t expect it.”
Brown, Goho, junior Charlie London and freshman Alex Lopes mustered fifth in the meet-opening 200 medley relay with a season-best time of 1:43.66, and the same quartet snatched sixth (3:29.30), only a tenth behind the Clippers.
London added an eighth in the 100 butterfly (55.80) and 15th in the 50 freestyle (24.05), while frosh Luke Abrahamson gathered a point for 16th in the 500 freestyle (PR of 5:35.80).
Mount St. Charles junior Matthew McGarry, the son of the Clippers’ mentor (and former Providence College standout/Bishop Feehan chief) Rod, didn’t score any points, but he did manage to finish 24th in the 200 individual medley (2:23.10) and 35th in the 100 butter
the
100
breastfly (1:04.05).
The Mountie, dad by his side, stated he was floored by his time in the 200 IM, a PR by over 10 seconds, not to mention the same in the 100 fly, which happened to be another personal best by approximately three ticks.
Unfortunately for the younger McGarry, St. Raphael/PCD co-op senior Ethan Potvin outdueled him in the multi-stroke event (2:19.72), but he avenged that when the Saint took 37th overall (1:05.36) in the 100 butterfly.
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MAX READ MEMORIAL/JOE & ROY WATMOUGH
INVITATIONAL SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Roger Williams University
Team standings – 1. Hendricken 366; 2. Wayland, Mass. 340.5; 3. Barrington 240.5; 4. Nantucket, Mass. 182; 5. Portsmouth 142; 6. Framingham, Mass. 141; 7. Cumberland 122.50; 8. (tie) Lincoln, Moses Brown 118; 10. South County Co-op 84; 11. North Kingstown 78; 12. Classical 46; 13. North Providence 42; 14. La Salle 38; 15. East Providence 32; 16. Cranston East 28; 17. Middletown 17; 18. Cranston West 15; 19. Wheeler 13.5; 20. East Greenwich 4.
Area placements
200y medley relay – 5. Lincoln (McGovern Brown, Ben Goho, Charlie London, Alex Lopes) 1:43.66;
11. Cumberland (Jack Doherty, Evan Goddard, Joe Beauvais, Aidan Ocampo) 1:54.29.
200y freestyle – 1. Ian Horstkamp-Vinekar (CUMB) 1:47.07; 12. Nick Zerva (CUMB) 1:56.76.
200y individual medley – 14. Thomas Brennan (CUMB) 2:10.81; 23. Ethan Potvin (SRA/PCD) 2:19.72; 24. Matt McGarry (MSC) 2:23.10.
50y freestyle – 10. Goho (L) 23.77; 15. London ( L) 24.05; 16. Doherty (CUMB) 24.13; 29. Ryan Breitenbach (MSC) 25.16.
100y butterfly – 2. Horstkamp-Vinekar (CUMB) 52.42; 8. London (L) 55.80;17. T. Brennan (CUMB) 58.79; 35. McGarry (MSC) 1:04.05; 37. Potvin (SRA/PCD) 1:05.36.
100y freestyle – 5. Brown ( L) 51.13; 15. (tie) Brennan (CUMB), Nate Haronian (MB) 53.83. 500y freestyle – 12. Zerva (CUMB) 5:23.56; Luke Abrahamson (L) 5:35.80.
200y freestyle relay – 4. Cumberland (T. Brennan, Zerva, Doherty, Horstkamp-Vinekar) 1:34.63; 14. Lincoln (Kacper Paprocki, Abrahamson, Ryan Allen, Patrick Riordan) 1:45.80.
100y backstroke – 7. Brown (L) 56.80; 42. Breitenbach (MSC) 1:18.75.
100y breaststroke – 8. Goho (L) 1:04.41. 400y freestyle relay – 5. Cumberland (T. Brennan, Zerva, W. Brennan, Horstkamp-Vinekar) 3:29.20;
6. Lincoln (Goho, Lopes, London, Brown) 3:29.30.
Will
16.