Chesterbrook

Tuckahoe Brings It, but Chesterbrook Brings a Little More

Tiger Sharks win tough D-1 battle, 209-194

The Chesterbrook Tiger Sharks fought off a determined Tuckahoe Tiger squad last Saturday in the team’s tightest dual meet since 2003. The meet was everything a Northern Virginia Swim League Division 1 contest should be: a see-saw battle, featuring league-leaders, come-from-behind victories, and team records, all before a screaming crowd that knew it was watching something special.

FREESTYLE: RARIFIED AIR

When Chesterbrook visits Tuckahoe – a consistently fast pool – the Tiger Sharks know team records are a possibility. But few anticipated just how quickly and how decisively the first record would fall. Andrew Bernstein, who had clubbed his way to a low-17 earlier this season, swam cast-free for the first time this summer and stunned the crowd with a 15.84 in the first event, the Boys 8&U 25 Meter Freestyle. Gabby Perotti took the Girls 25 Free, but the Tiger Sharks were not about to run away from the Tigers as they had from Hamlet and Oakton in the first two weeks. Instead, Tuckahoe took a pair from the Tiger Shark 9-10s, fighting off determined (and personal best) efforts by Michael Bennett and Maddie McArthur to make it a 2-point meet. The 11-12 races, though, may have typified the meet. First the Tigers’ Carter Flint and Tiger Sharks’ Jaya Kambhampaty both dropped under 30.00 and tied for 1^st place. Next, Sabrina Kersten hit a 29 of her own to win by 2/100 and take down one of Chesterbrook’s oldest team records. Importantly, Sabrina had support in the person of Julia LeMunyon, who came from behind in the last 10 meters to snatch 3^rd by less than 2/10 of a second. Wins by Chris Outlaw and Veronica Wolff helped the Tiger Sharks close the first stanza up by 4 points.

BACKSTROKE: REVERSAL OF FORTUNE

Andrew Bernstein reprised his Event 1 shocker with a sizable win in Event 11, the 8&U Boys 25 Meter Back, but then things got serious: the Tigers swept the next race to seize a 4-point lead, before 10-year-old Thomas Outlaw said “I’m not just a Butterflier,” racing to a jaw-dropping 36.70-36.75 win that established a new Tiger Shark club record and in the process pulled his Tiger opponent to a new Tuckahoe standard. Julia Green and Libby Davis, part of the team’s most dominant age group so far this year, took 1-3 to push the Tiger Sharks back out front by 2 points, but it was contributions from unexpected lanes that then grabbed the crowd’s attention. Yes, we expected Chris Outlaw to win 13-14 Back, but Hayden Camp scored from Lane 6 to add a point to the Tiger Sharks’ tally. Joey Sullivan cruised under 30 to take the Senior Boys’ 50 Back, but Brandon Enroth also rose to the occasion to chip in 3 points of his own in the Tiger Sharks’ first 1-2 finish of the morning. As Backstroke ended, the Tiger Sharks were in an unfamiliar position: they trailed 95-85.

BREASTSTROKE: STALEMATE

Maybe taking their cue from the Senior Boys, the Tiger Sharks 8&U Boys , who have emerged as reliable scorers, grabbed 1-2 in their 25 Breast, led by Jay Gollob and 7-year-old Alex Wilcox. Nick Spicer combined with Jack McManus to drop another 1-2 in the Boys 9-10 Breast to keep the Tiger Sharks within five points, but the team came up on the short end of the next three events, despite very tough, personal best swimming from Duncan and Julia Green, as well as Caroline Dibble and Claire Wolff. Griffin Morche then snapped Tuckahoe three-race win streak, grabbing first place, while Cameron Marrapese, swimming his first meet of the year, bulled his way to 2^nd from Lane 6. Thirteen-year-old Jessica Monroe doesn’t bull anyone, but she did fight for absolutely every one of those 50 meters to finish 2^nd in Event 28, while Hans Crone led a trio of young men to low-33’s in the 15-18 Breast. 

FLY: DON'T THINK, JUST RACE

Breaststroke was fast, but with the Tiger Sharks still trailing by 9 heading into Fly, it was time to get furious. How else to explain the Tiger Sharks’ resurgence in the meet’s final stanza, as the squad ripped off six wins in a row to go from 9 down to 19 up? Thomas Outlaw dropped a 15 in 9-10 Fly, and after Maddie McArthur and Sophie Bernstein took 1-2 the Tiger Sharks had regained the lead for the first time since the Boys 11-12 Backstroke. Jaya made sure there was no tie the second time around, taking 1^st in the 11-12 Boys Fly, while Sabrina Kersten also added a second blue ribbon to her morning haul – with All-Star quality support from Claire Wolff. Griffin Morche kept the mojo going with his second win of the morning, but it was Alexander Meikle who brought the crowd to its feet as he edged Tuckahoe for 2^nd and another 3 points that pushed the visitors to a 19-point lead. The crowd rose again as Kat Pardo dueled Tuckahoe’s Megan Howard to new club records for both Senior girls.

RELAYS: GOTTA WIN FIVE

The scene was electric as the teams warmed up for the relays: Tuckahoe was gunning for its first D-1 title since 1975, but they needed to take eight of the 12 relays in order to take the meet. It proved too tall an order. It shouldn’t have been a surprise, but it was: Andrew Bernstein came from waaaay back to pull out the 8&U Boys 100 Free Relay by a stroke. In the 9-10, Nick Spicer, Jack McManus, Adi Kampbhampaty and Michael Bennett got ‘er done – but just barely, winning by 0.2 and cutting the team’s magic number to three. The 9-10 Girls blasted to a league-leading 1:11.72 win. The Tiger Sharks 11-12 Girls took care of business, as well, and when John Stahlman touched the wall in the 13-14 Boys Medley, the team had 204 points – clinching the meet and triggering celebration in team area. There was no quit in the Tigers, though, as they won four of the last five events to tally 194 points and send a message: look out at this week’s Relay Carnival.