By CHARLES GAGNE
NEWBURYPORT — On Wednesday, Jan. 17, the accomplished Wakefield/Lynnfield boys’ cooperative swim team was ready to face its biggest challenge so far this season: The Triton Regional High School Vikings. In thrilling fashion, Wakefield/Lynnfield was able to take down this talented opponent, with a final score of 53-41.
This meet was a bit of a curveball for Wakefield, as Triton‘s home pool only has four lanes, meaning that each team was only allowed two swimmers per event. This changed the strategy of the whole meet, and the victory showed that coach Jeff Boyd did an excellent job organizing the events to feature the strengths of his swimmers.
In each event in a 4-lane pool, first-place winners earn four points, second place earns three points and third place one point. However, the relays bring in six points for first place, then three for second place and one for third. During this meet, Wakefield/Lynnfield faced the fastest swimmers they have seen all year, therefore, they didn’t win first place in a lot of events, but their depth really helped them persevere and gain many second and third-place points that were crucial to the overall result.
The meet started with the 200-yard medley relay in which Wakefield tallied second and third place with strong teams featuring Wakefield’s Christopher Meadows, Cooper Davis and Marc Gagne, along with a number of Lynnfield swimmers.
In the 200-yard freestyle race, freshman James Cook earned second place, and Wakefield/Lynnfield went on to win second and third place in the next three consecutive races. These included the 200-yard individual medley in which Robert Brown placed second and Andee Shieh of Lynnfield placed third; the 50-yard freestyle with Evan Chan second and Gagne third; and the 100-yard butterfly, with Chan second and Robert Brown third.
The score was tight at 22-20 in favor of Triton about halfway through the meet. That would soon change, however, with Henry Brown.
In the 100-yard freestyle event, Brown powered his way to first place with a sectionals and states-qualifying time. With Gagne finishing the race in third place, the score was knotted up at 25-25.
After solid performances in the 500-yard freestyle race from Brown and Cooper Davis, coming in second and third place, and a huge first-place finish for Wakefield’s Chan, Cook, Henry Brown and Robert Brown in the 200-yard freestyle relay, the Warrior/Pioneer team took the lead 36-32 and never looked back.
Following the relay, Wakefield dominated the 100-yard backstroke, with key contributors, Cook and Meadows, coming in first and second.
Triton hadn’t given up yet, as they climbed back within 4 points after earning first and second in the 100-yard breaststroke, but Wakefield/Lynnfield confidently closed out the meet with team aces Cook, Chan, and the Brown brothers, who cruised to a big win in the 400-yard freestyle relay.
When asked what this victory meant to the team, difference-maker, Henry Brown, answered, “I can’t even put into words what it felt like to win the meet. Whoever was there can testify to that. The atmosphere was electric. While it did come as an awesome result, it most definitely didn’t come as a surprise. Every night, when everyone else is snuggling into their beds, we’re out there grinding in the pool until 10 p.m. at night. If that doesn’t show incredible effort, I can’t say that I know what does. It was a great overall performance from both teams and we look forward to a similar result this weekend.”
Wakefield/Lynnfield, undefeated in the regular season, will continue their incredible efforts when they meet Triton and all of the other league opponents at the Cape Ann League championship on Saturday, 12:30 p.m. at the Peabody YMCA.
