Long Beach making big splash

Even with a predominantly young roster that goes more than 60-deep and features nine seniors, Long Beach’s girls’ swimming team has enjoyed a great deal of success as the regular season comes to a close this week.

The Lady Marines won five of their first six conference meets, averaging a shade under 100 points per meet in the process, and suffered their lone defeat Oct. 4 at the hands of perennial Nassau County powerhouse Garden City.

“We’ve swam really well in every meet,” Long Beach coach John Skudin said. “If you swim great, you feel good about it. We can’t control how everyone else swims. There’s a reason why Garden City hasn’t lost in 13 years.”

Events Skudin’s team has dominated so far include diving, with junior Emma Harris and senior Hayli Weitz, the 200-yard Individual Medley, thanks in large part to talented eighth-grader Margaret Aroesty, and the 100 freestyle led by junior Kellie Cannon and senior Jennifer Nash.

The diving duo of Harris and Weitz will likely give Long Beach a head start on the competition at the county meet Oct. 29 at the Nassau County Aquatic Center. Harris, a two-time state meet qualifier, picked up where she left off last season and scored a 240.30 in the first meet of 2012. “She’s been a notch above everyone,” Skudin said of Harris, who has finished first in all six conference meets.

Weitz has placed second in all six meets and scored as high as 222.15. “Emma and Hayli are both among the top five in the county,” Skudin said. “They’re both consistent, and we can count on them every meet.”

Aroesty continued her breakthrough season by winning the 200 IM in the Garden City meet with a time of 2-minutes, 15.09 seconds. Earlier in the season, she broke the Long Beach school record in the event with a time of 2:12.53. She’s already met the state qualifying time and is ranked No. 3. “She made an impact for us last year as a seventh grader, and she’s taken things to another level,” Skudin said.

Aroesty is also a key contributor in the 100 breaststroke and on the verge of meeting the state qualifying time in that event as well. She’s won the event each time she’s entered and finished in 1:08.69 in a win over Great Neck South on Sept. 28.

Cannon and Nash, the graduating class Valedictorian, are versatile and strong competitors. Cannon has proven tough to beat in the 50, 100 and 200 freestyles and made for a thrilling finish to the 200 Medley Relay against Garden City when she came within a touch of rallying the Lady Marines to victory. Nash, who swam the third leg in the relay, bolstered the team’s presence in sprints.

Freshman Morgan Harrington has been a great addition and excels in the butterfly and backstroke, and freshman Kathryn Mannle and eighth-grader Caroline Farrell set the pace in distance events.

“It would be great if we can work our way into the top three in the county,” Skudin said.