I covered swimming for many years in North Jersey, and had a chance to go back Saturday night to Felix Festa for the 2015/2016 Bergen County championships – now called the Meet of Champions.
It was the closest championship ever on the boys side, as Demarest and Bergen Catholic ended in a tie, and I won’t add any more to what Sean has already chronicled, but it was some crazy on the pool deck during that final race.
But, oh my goodness, I’m about to do what I loathe which is say, “back when”….but back when I covered big meets like this I always took notes and mentioned things in the blog the next day.
I also have compiled the list of all-time results and winners, you know the Bergen boys meet started in 2005/2006. Back then (forgive me) some guy wrote a story about how it wasn’t fair that the girls had a meet and the boys didn’t, and boom, next year, it happened. That guy now has 3 kids and an trick back. Trust me.
And so here goes…
First, Harris Kim of Tenafly, you win the honor of being the swimmer who splashed me the most Saturday night. But it’s totally OK. I’m used to it by now. I knew it was coming.
I had the best chat with pool judge Ed Miller, who wants to see a “mercy rule” in swimming, but not really. He just thinks teams should stop counting after they reach 86 points, that way meets aren’t 112-58. They would be 86 to 58. Never heard that idea.
The great Peter Ravettine was in rare form as a judge. We had some fun Saturday night, missing sign cards and all for the 500. That was a new one.
I met a handful of new coaches and some new assistant coaches. Wanted to tell Hackensack coach Scott Davis how much I respected what he had done with that program the last few years. River Dell/Westwood Coach Chris Armen invited me to the Purple Speedo banquet March 1st, and I will definitely be there. I didn’t get to meet new Bosco coach John Darcy and I really wanted to, just not a good time. It still thrills me to see Mahwah have a team, because people always said they should have one.
As far as the swimmers, on the boys side, it was a fun night. Teaneck won it’s first county championship in a relay. Harrison Yi of Tenafly, man, the dude just looks like a swimmer, powerful body, great stroke. One of my favorite things to do was always watch how kids do compared to seed times, Tyler Pollack of Fair Lawn went 22.66 in the 50, over a second off his seed time and in the 50 that’s just ridiculous. Frank Marrone went 51.32 for Hackensack to win his heat in the 100 Free. Santiago Rivera of Ridgewood went 48.53, lowering his seed time by over 2 seconds in the 100 Free, and Tristan Highet can really go.
Anyway thought, being on the pool deck and watching this meet off and on since it got started, well, I have seen some of the best. And that brings me to Jason Arthur of Teaneck. It was my first time seeing Jason swim in a few years, I’m old enough to remember his sister Brenda (so, so old). My column off the meet focused on the girls, Cleopatra Lim and Gabby Cervone, and it made me look back at the All-Decade teams and the All-Decade swimmers I picked back in 2009/2010. When I saw Jason Arthur swim Saturday, and knowing all he has done at Teaneck, and on his way to Drexel, well, right now I’d say he’s the leader in the club house for the best Swimmer in North Jersey this decade. There is still a long way to go, but Jason’s versatility (school records in 8 events) and speed and character, well, he hits all the right marks.
Oh, and yeah, I also have kept track of the most gold medal winners in meet history. I also have it broken down team by team. I cut the list off at 4. If there are any mistakes, well, I’m easy to find.
Boys County Gold Medalists through 2015-2016 season
Name, school (graduation year)
Leo Lim, Tenafly 12 (2012) – 8 individual, four relay
Mike DiNapoli, Bergen Catholic 9 (2008) – six individual, three relay
John Om, Bergen Catholic 9 (2015) – 6 relay, 3 individual
Austin Taylor, Ridgewood 7 (2010) – three individual, four relay
Josh Sembrano, Bergen Catholic 7 (2014) – 4 relay, 3 individual
Jason Arthur, Teaneck 6 (2016) – 4 individual, 2 relay
Liam Kelly, Bergen Catholic 5 (2014) – five relay
Brendan Woo, Ramapo 5 (2015) – five individual
Michael Bailey, Demarest 4 (2007) – two individual, two relay
Derek Hursch, Paramus Catholic/Hackensack 4 (2010) – four individual
Tim Healy, Ridgewood 4 (2010) – all relay
Bryon Kallert, River Dell/New Milford 4 (2007)– all individual
Derek Hursch, Hackensack/Paramus Catholic 4 (2010) – all individual
Ryan Magee, Don Bosco 4 (2011) – 2 relay, 2 individual
Brendan Woo, Ramapo 4 (2014) – 4 individual
Anthony Bussanich, Ridgewood 4 (2008) – 3 relay, 1 individual
Alex Liulakis, Tenafly 4 (2012) – 4 relay
Sebastian Lopez, Bergen Catholic 4 (2014) – 4 relay
John Nunez, Paramus Catholic 4 (2015) – 4 individual
And by the way, Bergen Catholic now has the most team titles with 5, Bosco has 2, Ridgewood has 2, Tenafly has 2 and Demarest has 1.