Mount Kisco heating up in the pool with a pair of victories

Thomas Brown of Katonah leaps from the starting block. Greg Kaplowitz photos

Vincent D’Eramo wins breaststroke race. Joe O’Donnell swims butterfly. Isabelle Hehman of Katonah swims breaststroke.

By JIM MACLEAN

In the end, it was another impressive victory for the Mount Kisco Memorial Pool swim team as it won its third-straight meet, scoring a 296-254 victory over host Katonah on July 22.

However, it was more than just the final score as both teams cheered each other on for another exciting summer swim meet. It’s what keeps swimmers and families coming back for more year after year to compete in the Northern Westchester Swimming Conference. Like recent John Jay graduate Thomas Brown, an All-Section captain for his high school team. Brown will be off to college in a few weeks, swimming at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island, but he couldn’t miss out on one more summer season with the Katonah Town Pool team.

“Since I was 6 years old, a long time, just a fun way to get out and swim for the summer,” Brown said of his summer swim experience with Katonah. “Some close, friendly races, I know a lot of the people, they’re my friends, and it’s just a good time, competitive but fun.”

Brown certainly did his part with three close races and two victories in the butterfly and freestyle to lead the way for Katonah, but it is always a tough meet swimming in Division 1 as Katonah suffered its third-straight setback. Mount Kisco has a strong group of swimmers leading the way with four triple winners in individual events as the team pulled away for the victory.

One of the most exciting races of the meet came in the 12-and-under girls butterfly event as Isabelle Hehman of Katonah and Devin Pellow of Mount Kisco finished in a tie for first. That was an example of how close a lot of the races were as the top teams in the conference swim against each other in Division 1.

“Division I is really competitive, a lot of year-round swimmers, we’ve had a lot of close meets and we’re doing our best,” explained Katonah coach Jessica Frank. “I’ve been head coach now 11 years, coaching 15 years, and I’ve been involved with this team since I was 7 years old. It starts with the beginning swimmers, just trying to get them to enjoy the water, and a lot of them come up since they were little and keep swimming. It’s become such a family atmosphere and a fun team experience over the years.”

Mount Kisco coach Annabel Smith was one of the triple winners for the victors as she helped lead her team to the win. As usual, Smith won both the breaststroke and freestyle under 18 races, and this time she also swam the butterfly event and won that as well.

“Not something I do often, but I’ll swim whatever we need for the team,” Smith said of her butterfly victory. “It was a good meet and the kids are excited to get the win. That’s the best part of this, seeing the little kids have fun. I can still remember my first race, all my coaches cheering for me. Now, being a coach brings it full circle for me.”

Smith was not the only star for Mount Kisco at the meet with four triple winners. Bobby Stanton was a triple winner in backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle. Nico Lahre was a triple winner in backstroke, butterfly and freestyle, and Vincent D’Eramo was a triple winner in breaststroke, butterfly and freestyle.

Double winners for Mount Kisco included Andi Stanton in backstroke and freestyle, and Molly Cosgrove in butterfly and freestyle.

Mount Kisco shined in the breaststroke event, winning nine of the ten races as Stephen Munson, Charlotte Jordan, Chloe Loving, Nico Zhang, Sophia Oh, and Landon Chung also won their breaststroke races.

Other individual event winners for Mount Kisco were Olivia Oh and James Cosgrove in backstroke, Lane Arias in butterfly, and Stephen Winch in freestyle.

In addition to Brown, Katonah had three other double winners. Isabelle Hehman was a winner in butterfly and freestyle. Adeline Barr was a winner in butterfly and freestyle, while Fiona Foster won her races in freestyle and backstroke.

Other individual event winners for Katonah were Will Ostrander in freestyle, Henry Kepple, Abigail Hehman, Kevin O’Donnell and Katie O’Donnell in backstroke, Tessa Cramer in breaststroke, and Olivia Hickerson in butterfly.

Mount Kisco swept the diving competitions with Sophia Gonzalez, Kyle Choudewy and Jasper Pans all emerging as winners.