Thrilling victories at Lynn City Swim Championships held at Peter Sawin Natatorium
LYNN, Mass. — The 53rd annual Lynn City Swim Championship Meet, featuring the three Lynn public high schools, ended with a thrilling victory by Lynn Classical. The score was close throughout the meet with Lynn Classical and Lynn Tech swapping the lead and Lynn English keeping close behind. But going into the final event, the 400-freestyle relay, Lynn Classical and Lynn Tech were separated by only 2 points.
Each team needed a first-place finish in the relay to secure the win. Lynn Tech broke out an early lead and widened it with their first two swimmers, while Lynn Classical’s Andrew Moore and Aleana Benedetto battled to cut the lead. By the third leg of the race Sydney Finnigan began to close the gap as she gained on Tech’s swimmer.
When Classical’s fourth swimmer, sophomore Camille Mendonca hit the water she was almost a full lap behind Lynn Tech’s final swimmer, and it appeared that Lynn Tech would have no problem taking first. But on every stroke Mendonca got a bit closer, her terrific turns decreased their lead too, until she caught up in the final few yards of her leg. The fans were cheering wildly, coaches and teammates were jumping up and down and you couldn’t hear anything above the noise. When they reached the wall Mendonca of Lynn Classical had touched him out finishing three one hundredths of a second over Lynn Tech for first place, winning both the relay and securing the meet! She also swam a personal best time.
Other winners for Lynn Classical were Daniel Puma who took first in both the 100 Breaststroke and the 50 Free. Camille Mendonca also had a first-place finish in the 100 Free with Sydney Finnigan and Aleana Benedetto going 1-2 in both the 200 and 500 freestyle respectively. Merdi Ifufa took first in the 100 Fly shaving 14 seconds off his personal best. The Diving competition was outstanding, with Lynn Classicals Ava Anderson finishing first with 187.7 points.
Lynn Classical Coaches are Denise Silva, Charlie Silva. Don McKenney and Kay Rowe.
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