9 Photos
East Hampton's Tenzin Tamang launches himself to begin the second leg of the 200-yard medley relay.
East Hampton's Tenzin Tamang looks up at his time after finishing the 200-yard individual medley.
East Hampton co-captain Dan Piver looks up to see his time after finishing the 200-yard freestyle.
East Hampton's Tenzin Tamang swims the backstroke portion of the 200-yard individual medley.
East Hampton's Dan Piver dives to begin the 200-yard freestyle.
East Hampton's Tenzin Tamang swims his breaststroke portion of the 200-yard individual medley.
East Hampton's Aidan McCormac prepares to dive in at the start of the 50-yard freestyle.
East Hampton's Aidan McCormac after finishing the 100-yard freestyle on Thursday, January 6.
East Hampton's Tenzin Tamang swims the butterfly portion of the 200-yard individual medley.
Outside hockey and soccer, ties are rare in most sports, swimming included.
But that’s exactly what happened when the East Hampton/Pierson boys swim team hosted Sayville/Bayport-Blue Point at the East Hampton RECenter on Thursday, January 6. The Bonackers won the opening event, the 200-yard medley relay, but the Golden Flashes took second and third place, leading to a tight 8-6 early Bonac lead, and that was how the rest of the meet went.
When both teams arrived at the final event of the night, the 400-yard freestyle relay, East Hampton needed to either win it or finish second and third place to take the overall meet. Instead, Bonac took second place, with the Flashes taking first and third, leading to the exciting, yet unsatisfying, 80-80 tie.
Both teams, fittingly, are 2-2-1 in League II meets and are tied for fourth place in the standings, as of Tuesday morning.
“It was very exciting for all,” East Hampton head coach Craig Brierley said. “Sayville has long been a talented team that we always look forward to competing against. So we were prepared for a competitive meet and our boys were prepared to bring their best.
“There were many best times and great efforts, as our Bonac swimmers continue to display the physical and mental skills they are developing during their daily training,” he added.
East Hampton senior co-captain Aidan McCormac said even though the meet ended in a tie it was still awesome and very exciting.
“Our meet ended with a tie, which is amazing because both teams were competing at a high level,” he said. “I've been a part of meets before that ended in a tie, but I don't think winning or losing matters. As long as you grow as a person and swimmer you had a successful swim meet.”
As they do after every meet, the Bonac captains, McCormac and fellow classmate Daniel Piver, chose a Swimmer of the Meet. That honor went to East Hampton sophomore Jack O’Sullivan. In his first year swimming for the Bonackers, O’Sullivan has taken on a lot, such as competing in four different events against SayBayBlue. He had three separate best times and was a big contributor to Bonac’s 80 overall points.
“He is consistently at training and meets and puts in the work,” Brierley said of O’Sullivan. “He is a talented athlete and the team benefits from his dedication. Jack is a wonderful teammate and the captains were excited to name him the Swimmer of the Meet.”
McCormac said that despite the resurgence of COVID no one on the team has given up.
“Our season has definitely been a bumpy ride … and yet none of our simmers have given up which shows how close our team is and our bonds can only move us forward.”
East Hampton hosted Northport this past Tuesday and will host its regular-season finale on Wednesday, January 19 against Lindenhurst at 5 p.m.
