Farrel Levenson ’11 and Suzanne Kleine ’11
Opinions Editor and Features Editor

Going into the Oct. 21 meet with Ridgefield High School, the Staples girls swimming and diving team expected to be defeated. Instead, they pulled out an upset win and defeated Ridgefield 102-81.

The Lady Wreckers won the meet by a large margin. This can attributed to their coaches and their success in the freestyle events. “The coaches inspired the girls by wearing throwback jerseys,” Assistant Coach Jeff Doornweerd said.

With regards to the events, Coach Mike Laux said “they were the big point scoring events for us.”

Molly Loftus ’11 pulled a 4:58:65 in the 500 freestyle, coming in first place. In the same heat, Margot Bruce ’11 and Cat Friel ’10 timed in at 5:03:45 and 5:04:97, respectively.

Relays also proved to be a strong point for the Lady Wreckers. The team of quint-captains Helena Neuhaus ’10, Charlotte Katter ’10, along with Loftus and Sarah Cooperman ’13 took first in the 200 medley relay with a time of 2:09:87.

The Lady Wreckers also took first in the 200 freestyle relay, with Gabrielle Wimer ’12, Stephanie Nussbaum ’11, Katter, and Friel finishing in 2:01:04.

“We were supposed to lose to them.”

-Quint-captain Cat Friel ’10

In the 400 freestyle relay, Katter, Neuhaus, Loftus, and quint-captain Natalie LeBlanc ’10, skillfully worked together to take first with an impressive time of 4:20:94.

Loftus also came in first the 200 freestyle with a time of 2:14:44. The race displayed Loftus’s strength as a swimmer, as Loftus finished a whole 10 seconds before the first Ridgefield competitor.

However, Loftus was not the only standout swimmer in the meet. Neuhaus completed her 100 freestyle in 1:01:73. Neuhaus took first in that race, in addition to the 50 freestyle, which she swam in 0:27:62.

LeBlanc excelled in the backstroke. She won the 100 backstroke, clocking in at 1:11:32. LeBlanc also came in first in the 200 IM, which includes all four strokes: butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle. LeBlanc finished the race with a time of 2:35:13. In addition, Cooperman won the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:23:48.

Schafer Andrews ’11 won the diving competition, scoring a 260.4. In comparison, the closest Ridgefield competitor scored a 170.

Coach Laux was once again impressed with the girls’ swimming. He was “really pleased with the way they swam.”

The unexpected victory was summed up by Neuhaus. “We did better than we thought we would.”