South Side boys' swim team debuts

In the works for a couple of years, South Side High School’s boys’ swimming program made its debut this winter and finished a respectable 7-10 while competing in Nassau Conference II.

The Cyclones, who placed 15th out of 23 teams in the county meet last month, featured a roster of 12 including senior standout Anthony Sourial. “Anthony fought for this team’s existence and deserves a lot of credit for the success we had in the first season,” coach Rachel McShane said. “We knew there was a good amount of interest from kids, and once the budget passed last year we knew we had the resources to get the program started.”

McShane said Sourial was the MVP and one of four captains. He placed second in Nassau County in the 200-yard Individual Medley (1:59.56) and competed in the state meet in the event Feb. 28-March 1 in Rochester. He also led the Cyclones in the 100 breaststroke, 200 freestyle, 100 butterfly, and was part of several relays. “He’s very talented and can do any event,” McShane said of Sourial, who according to the coach is planning to compete at the collegiate level. “He’s a great team leader and helped everyone else improve.”

Seniors Sean Lenihan and Donald Rock, as well as junior Michael Colletta, also served as captains. Colletta, who like Sourial brought some club experience to the high school scene, placed sixth in Nassau in the 50 freestyle (23.10 seconds) and played a key role in the 100 backstroke and relays.

Colletta, Lenihan, Sourial and junior Sean Testa formed a strong 400 freestyle relay.

Lenihan’s energy was contagious, McShane said, and he led the team in diving along with freshman Carter Cosgrove. Rock, meanwhile, made big strides in the 50 free and finished the season with a best of just over 30 seconds.

McShane said along with nine returnees — juniors Colletta, Testa, Bryan McNally, and Patrick Limerick, freshmen Cosgrove, Peter McEntee, Kayhan Kazbay, and Colin Mullooly, and Liam Maliner, an eighth-grader, she’s hoping the roster will grow next season and beyond.

“This was a nice growing and building season,” she said. “We’ll look to increase the numbers as we go.”