swimming

The Le Roy High School members of the Byron-Bergen/Le Roy Swimming and Diving Team were honored at Tuesday's Le Roy Central School District Board of Education meeting for their Section V Class C championship.

The team went 10-1 on the season. 

Coach Sara Stockwell said that accomplishment is all the more notable because the team didn't have its own pool for training this season. The Byron-Bergen pool is undergoing renovations.  The team practiced in Chili.

"Ten and one is a huge improvement over last year and the year before," Stockwell said. "They were 2-10, so it's a major improvement. We were the Genesee Regional League champions, and we won the Genesee Region League meet championship, so they won the meet and the league. 

She said, "Our kids swam phenomenally all season."

Press Release:

The GLOW YMCA Riptide Swim Team out of Batavia had a very successful regular season. 26 members met the age group qualification standards for the NYS YMCA State Swimming Championship. 

The meet will be held from March 15 - 17 at the Nassau Aquatic Center on Long Island. The ages of the swimmers range from 7 to 17 and attend local school districts including Batavia, Byron-Bergen, Le Roy, Oakfield-Alabama, St. Joseph’s School, and Pembroke. 

The team will compete in 58 individual events and 10 relays. The team is coached by Jen Pritchett, Andrew Fisher, and Emily Hirsch.

The Byron-Bergen/Le Roy girls swim team won the Genesee Regional Championship over the weekend, placing first out of seven teams at the meet.  

The team scored 492 points. Notre Dame/Batavia finished second with 419 points.

Swim Coach Sara Stockwell said it has been 10 years since Byron-Bergen won the league championship meet.

Senior Alaura Rehwaldt won the 100-meter butterfly and broke her own school record with a time of 1:03.59.

Alaura Rehwaldt, Jorie Strzelecki, Peyton Koukides and Natalee Shepard won the 200-meter freestyle relay and also broke their own school record with a time of 1:46.36.

Information and photo submitted by Sara Stockwell.

Oakfield-Alabama senior Ryan Schildwaster won two Class D sectional titles in swimming yesterday. He took first place in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:10.44. He also won the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 57 seconds. 

In addition to the titles, the coaches selected Schildwaster as Swimmer of the Meet.

"This is a well-deserved honor for a very dedicated young man and an exceptionally talented athlete," said Coach Patricia Buczek. "Congratulations Ryan on a swim well done."

Photo and information submitted by Patricia Buczek.

Le Roy's varsity girls swimming team hosted Notre Dame for their season and home opener on Thursday, winning 102-74.

Highlights:

• Natalee Shepard, 100 Freestyle 101.65
• Peyton Koukides, 100 Breaststroke 1:20.62
• Shepard & Koukides were on the 200 M & 400 Freestyle winning relays

Information and photos by Tim McArdle

Le Roy's boys swim team met a tough opponent, Attica, on Friday, losing 105-53.

Brady Fix did win two races, the 50 free at 25.26 and the 100 butterfly at 1:04.21.

Photos and information submitted by Tim McArdle.

Last evening at Eastridge High School, Batavia girls swim team defeated Eastridge 87-56. Batavia won points in eight of 11 events, picking up their second win of the season.

For a complete list of results click here: Eastridge vs. Batavia

Photos by Steve Ognibene.

To view or purchase photos, click here.

• Section V single season, rushing yards, 3,012;
• Section V single season, touchdowns, 49;
• Section V single season, points scored, 310;
• Section V career record, rushing yards, 6,023;
• Section V career touchdowns, 111;
• Section V career points, 720;
• State playoff record for yards rushing, 474;
• State playoff record for touchdowns, 8 (twice);
• State playoff record for points scored, 50.

So it's no surprise that Leach has been named Football Player of the Year for All-Greater Rochester by the Democrat & Chronicle.

Brennan Briggs, who coached his fourth team in the past five years to a Section V championship. This season was the first time a Briggs-coached team reached the state championship game. 

Also making first team: Joshua Barber and Ethan Biscaro. Taiyo Iburi-Bethel was named to the second team. Alex Rood, Joe Martinucci and Andrew Francis all received honorable mention.

Chris McClinic, Alexander, also made second team. Honorable mentions went to Terrez Smith, Ty Woods, Dylan Busch, Jake Jasen, Ethan Heineman and Hayden Walton.

Honorable mention for Notre Dame: Gabe MacDonald, Keith Szczepanski, Mason Randall, Tim Klotzbach, Tyler Totten.

Honorable mention for Pembroke: Theodore Pintabona, Colby Cerasani, Trent Smith, Trevor Vaughn.

Honorable mention in eight-man football for Oakfield-Alabama/Elba: Colton Dillon, Gage Dieterle, Ty Mott, Kyle Magliocco, Peyton Yasses, Seth Sepalla.

First team in other fall sports:

• Lukas Milligan, Pavilion, boys volleyball
• Maiya Reinhart, Batavia, girls swimming

Press release:

The Genesee County YMCA was chosen as one of 151 Make a Splash Local Partner programs in the United States to receive grant funding from the USA Swimming Foundation in 2018. The awarded money will go toward Genesee County YMCA’s continued efforts to provide free or reduced cost swim lessons to underserved communities.

The USA Swimming Foundation awarded a total of $702,819 to programs across the country that will help provide swim lessons to an estimated 27,239 children, the most distributed since Make a Splash’s inception in 2007.  

 “We are excited and honored to be chosen for this grant,” said Aquatics coordinator Megan Boring. “The funding we received will be put toward our goal of reaching 50 new kids from within our community to have them be a part of the YMCA’s Learn to Swim Program.

"We are specifically reaching out to children in our community who may not be able to afford swim lessons, and therefore have not learned how to swim. We feel this is a great opportunity to introduce kids on how to be safe around water and learn the basics of swimming.”

The Genesee County YMCA will be working with the Genesee County Youth Bureau to identify participants who would most benefit from free or reduced-cost swim lessons.

The YMCA’s Learn to Swim Program has been around for more than 100 years. At the Genesee County YMCA, we offer swim lesson classes to all ages and abilities.

  The USA Swimming Foundation vetted more than 200 applications through a competitive annual review process and chose 151 programs to receive funding, many of whom are first time Make a Splash grant recipients.

“We are thrilled to be awarding this funding and so proud that it will be used to create a valuable swimming experience for thousands of children who may not have had the opportunity to learn how to swim,” USA Swimming Foundation Executive Director Debbie Hesse said.

“These exciting and lifesaving opportunities would not be possible without the support of our USA Swimming Foundation partners and donors, who continue to help us make a difference across this country.”

More than 850 Make a Splash Local Partners in all 50 states promote water safety education in their communities and provide scholarships and transportation for children to participate in their swim lesson programs.

For more information on the Make a Splash grants distributed, visit www.USASwimmingFoundation.org.

For more information on swim lessons at the GLOW YMCA contact the YMCA at 585-344-1664, or visit www.glowymca.org.

Last night 15 teams from Section V, Class C gathered at Victor High School for sectional finals. Byron-Bergen-Le Roy represented Genesee County, placing 13th overall. 

Combined Team Rankings:

1. Avon
2. Marcus Whitman
3. Dansville
4. Wayland-Cohocton
5. Bath-Haverling
6. Addison
7. Attica
8. Gananda
9. Midlakes
10. Letchworth-Perry
11. Cuba-Rushford
12. North Rose-Wolcott-Red Creek
13. Byron-Bergen-Le Roy
14. Williamson-Sodus
15. Warsaw

The Section V swimming sectionals wrap up tonight in Bath-Haverling with the Section D finals, where Genesee County will be represented by Pembroke and Alexander. 

Photos by Destin Danser Photography. Click Here to view more or purchase prints. 

Eight teams from the Genesee Region League met at Gates-Chili High School on Saturday for their regional championship meet. Results are listed below:

Boys:

1. Harley Allendale Columbia
2. Pembroke
3. Attica
4. Oakfield-Alabama-Elba
5. Alexander
6. Byron-Bergen-Le Roy
7. Notre Dame
8. Wheatland Chili

Girls:

1. Harley Allendale Columbia
2. Pembroke
3. Alexander
4. Attica
5. Byron-Bergen-Le Roy
6. Notre Dame
7. Oakfield-Alabama-Elba
8. Wheatland Chili

Photos by Destin Danser. Click here to view more or purchase prints.

Pictured above are members of the Batavia Sea Devils who competed in YMCA New York State Swim Meet held this past weekend at University of Buffalo.  

It was an outstanding and the Sea Devils had four swimmers that brought home championship titles.

Maiya Reinhart won the 13-14 girls 50 free, 100 free, and the 100 fly; Chris Lemley won the 15-19 boys 100 backstroke; Jackson Fix won the 9-10 boys 50 backstroke; and Aaron Trelevan won the 9-10 boys 100 free.

Maiya set a new state record in the 50 free with a time of 24.51. In addition, the following individual Y records were set: Lauren Hume (15-19 girls) 50 free, 100 free, and 200 free; Alex Kunes (15-19 boys) 500 free and 100 breast; Maiya Reinhart (13-14 girls) 50 free; Cooper Mattice (11-12 boys) 200 IM; and Jackson Fix (9-10 boys) 50 back. 

Batavia Y records were broken in the girls 15-19, 200 Free relay by Maddie LaGrou, Elle Fulton, Lauren Hume, and Maiya Reinhart. 

The relay team of Reagan Bifarella, Norah Janes, Elle Fulton and Maiya Reinhart broke two relay records for the girls 13-14 age group, the 200 Medley Relay and the 200 Free Relay.

For all the results go to: http://www.yswimmingnewyork.org/ 

To learn more about joining the Batavia Sea Devils go to their Facebook page here: Batavia Sea Devils

Photo and info provided by parents of the Batavia Sea Devils.

The Batavia girls swimming team put together a 94-63 win over Wilson at the GCC pool Thursday and the girls were clearly excited about the victory after the meet.

As the second smallest Class B team in the Monroe League, team wins are hard to come by for Batavia, but the program continues to develop promising young swimmers said Co-head Coach Sarah Geitner.

"We have a lot of very young swimmers, but everybody has fantastic attitude and wants to learn," Geitner said.

Because the school doesn't have its own pool, it can't field a modified team so it's a little tougher to build a varsity program, Geitner said.

"At the start of the season, we weren't sure if there would even be enough girls for a team and now that we're up to 14 girls, we're really excited," Geitner said.

Two girls joined the team this week.

At the top of the young roster are freshman Natalie Amico, junior Emily DiBacco, seventh-grader Elle Fulton and sophomore Brooke Leddon, the team's lone diver.

For the 14 girls on the team, team spirit was in strong supply at Thursday's match. Not only did the swimmers cheer their teammates, they cheered the Wilson swimmers as well.

Geitner said she would like to get more of the girls involved in the YMCA swimming programs to take an interest in joining the Batavia High School team.

"In order to grow a better program, we want to encourage more Y swimmers to come in and take the test," Geitner said.

To purchase prints of photos, click here.

 By now, everybody has seen the photo of Olympic star Michael Phelps smoking marijuana out of a bong.

Phelps is 22 years old and won a record eight gold medals in the 2008 Olympics, propelling him to iconic status. He picked up many many endorsement deals and fans in the process.

But he attended a party at the University of South Carolina with a female student he was seeing when the now-famous photo was snapped. 

Some people think Phelps needs to be role model because he is a professional athlete and should not doing anything like this in public, while many people don't think it is a big deal because he is college age and doing what many kids that age do.

What is your opinion?