Lady Rams swim team sets 7 personal records in close loss to Poughkeepsie with 3 aces out
September 28, 2023 at 12:25 a.m.
It was déjà vu all over again, a swimming blast from the past indicative of the fighting spirit that makes the Lady Rams ever-improving swim team such an intriguing group to watch under inspirational coach Colleen Cahill.
In days gone by, five years ago to be exact, a newbie freshman named Madeline (Madi) Saunders volunteered to swim in races she had never swum in before because that is where the Lady Rams needed her. Even though the distances seemed beyond her grasp as a sprinter.
But swim those distances she did and swam them so well she set school records in multiple distance races and now she is swimming and diving in D3 competition for Western Connecticut University.
The key volunteers
And now freshman Esmeralda Sanchez and junior Ashley Zapata are churning up their own waves as volunteers in new events, senior Nicole Ortega is flashing D3 collegiate form and seven different Lady Rams set personal records, emerging from the pool undaunted despite a close away loss to Poughkeepsie last week while competing without three of their top swimmers who were either out sick or injured.
That meant untried newcomers had to step up and volunteer in varsity races they had never participated in before.
Sanchez stepped up and volunteered to try both the 100 backstroke in the individual race as well as in the medley relay even though she had never competed in the backstroke before.
"It was just the second varsity meet of her life, and she did very well, coming in in under two minutes in the 100-yard race and in 50 seconds for the 50-yard relay leg," Cahill said. "It was reminiscent of what Madi Saunders did as a freshman when some of her teammates were unable to swim. Her willingness to try new events has become contagious."
The personal record breakers
Zapata also impressed by stepping out of her sprinting zone to compete in the 200-yard freestyle and placed second. "This represents a major accomplishment because she is normally a sprinter and the 200-yard free is considered a mid-distance swim," Cahill explained.
She also raved about the way Ortega "continues to literally fly in the pool—her 100-yard butterfly performance, for example, resulted in her finishing in first place and she dropped almost four seconds from her time last week which was her previous personal record," according to the coach. "And in a sport where improvements are usually measured in tenths of a second, that represents a major accomplishment."
Cahill also pointed out that her Lady Rams set seven personal records during the 50-37 loss including:
*Arianna Orellana in the 200 freestyle, Chenoa Marquez in the 200 intermediate and Sophia Rellez in the 50 freestyle.
*Monika Tobar and Morgan Saunders also had PRs in the 50 free as did Daisy Ruiz in the 100 free and Ortega in the 100 butterfly.
All in all, it was an impressive day's work for the personal record-breakers as well as the volunteers. And it has Cahill looking forward to what her Lady Rams will accomplish next in their upcoming meets against Yorktown/Somers Monday (10/2), Mount Vernon Wednesday (10/4), Brewster Friday (10/6), Peekskill (10/11) and Harrison (10/13), all away and all at 4:30 p.m. as is Port Chester's next home meet against Woodlands on Oct. 16 at the Carver Center. Cahill predicts that win or lose, good things will happen for her Lady Rams because they keep setting PRs, keep improving and keep volunteering. That is indicative of a closely knit team that has a good thing going and knows it because they keep getting faster, better and stronger, according to their coach, and that is all she can ask.
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