Spartan Girls Swim Pushes Past Westfield

First place efforts from the Spartans captains, Lara Chebotarev and Allyson Voight, led East Longmeadow to their 60-41 win over the Bombers. 

The two senior captains earned first place not only in their respective events, 200-yard freestyle, 200-yard individual medley, and 100-yard freestyle, but also in their relay events alongside sophomore Nhi Nguyen and senior Eliza Iacobucci.

This win by the Spartans puts them at a record of 4-1 with four meets left to go.

Other first-place individual contributions that helped guide the Spartans to their win came from senior Bella Giard in the 100-yard backstroke, sophomore Ellie Hutchins in the 100-yard breaststroke, and Eliza Iacobucci in the 50 yard freestyle. 

In comparison to Voight, Chebotarev, Iacobucci, and Nhi’s times of 1:49.24 in the 200-yard freestyle relay and 4:05.24 in the 400-yard freestyle relay, the underclassmen-dominated relay group of Lauren Holmes, Quynh-Anh Nguyen, Emerson Pelletier, and Makayla LaChapelle also earned first place in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 2:14.61.

Both relay groups, along with the rest of the team, displayed team chemistry and encouragement throughout the entire meet, something which both captains believe highly contributed to their overall success.

“As you’re swimming, all you’re hearing is your team cheering you on, which makes you go faster,” Voight said. “So, if everyone is high-spirited and encouraging, it gives the whole team a bonding experience.“

“I’ve never seen a team cheer so much for each other the way we do,” Chebotarev said.

The same way that Voight and Chebotarev put their positivity into the team, they receive it right back.

“Being a leader, you have a lot of responsibilities and it teaches you how to encourage others,” Voight said. “It also improves your ability to get your job done as well as improve yourself.”

“I think by encouraging other people to follow healthy and productive habits I’ll follow them too as I step into my leadership role,” Chebotarev said.

As for the specifics into how both captains maintain their positivity within the team, Chebotarev added that the team holds “pre-meet locker room talks, where everyone feels included.”

The influence Voight and Chebotarev have on their teammates is something that they use to motivate them.

“I feel like we have both been very positive and we’ve kept the team in high spirits,” Voight said. “With our positivity, it’s been super motivating for our team.”

These are just a couple of the examples of leadership that head coach Brad Mills loves to see from his captains.

“All of our captains have seriously picked up all of their responsibilities more than years past,” Mills said. “They help out on the pool deck, make sure the freshman know what’s going on, and just, in general, hold people accountable in practices and meets.”

As for the hopes Mills contains for the rest of this season, he’s taking an individualized-based approach.

“For our whole dual-meet season my strategy is more of developing the team rather than trying to win the meets,” Mills said. “We’re trying to see the end goal to get as many people qualified for sectionals or state competition moving forward.”

While they are a “versatile team that can pretty much do any type of event and be competitive in them,” Mills also acknowledged that there is lots of “room for improvement” within the young group. 

Mills and his team compete again this Friday at Longmeadow.