Blue Devil Girls’ Swimmers Competitive at 6-4
The Huntington girls’ swim team continued its ascent in Suffolk, completing the season with a 6-4 record and sending junior Kaitlyn Larkin to an All-State finish at the state championships in East Meadow.
The 26-member team was coached by Lynn Perzeszty and Meg McConnell and captained by Laura Beach, Tara Malone and Virginia Johnson. Only four of the team’s swimmers were seniors, giving rise to the expectation that the Blue Devils are poised for a run at the top programs over the next few years.
Huntington has a strong supporting cast, but Larkin is clearly the star of this team. She raced to a third place finish in a time of 1:06.51 in the state meet and also qualified for the state championship in the 200 IM.
“Kaitlyn is a special person, both in and out of the water,” Perzeszty said. “Not only is she a very fast swimmer, but she is full of team spirit. She is always the first one to cheer for her teammates.”
Perzeszty is also heartened by the rise of eighth grader Diana Harvy who advanced to the Suffolk championships and who compiled personal best times in the 100 freestyle and 200 IM of 1:04.9 and 2:26.0, respectively.
“Diana is young and has a lot of potential to be the next Huntington swimmer to go to the states,” Perzeszty said. “She works very hard and it shows in her accomplishments.”
While individual honors abounded for many Blue Devil swimmers, Perzeszty singled out one group accomplishment as the team’s most impressive this past season. Erica Flor (backstroke), Kaitlyn Larkin (breaststroke), Diana Harvey (fly) and Maya Benston (freestyle) captured fourth place in the county meet in the medley relay, finishing with their best time of 1:49.0.
To a large extent, swimming is an individual sport, but the concept of “team” is important to Perzeszty. “The team is very close and supportive of one another, both in and out of the pool,” the coach said. “There is a lot of team spirit and a real feeling that they enjoy swimming.”
With a roster dominated by underclassmen, including five freshmen, three eighth graders and a seventh grader, Huntington expects to be highly competitive in coming years, perhaps challenging for a championship.
“Next year should be a good one,” Perzeszty said. “There is a lot of young talent. Our league can be tough, but we should be able to improve our standings for the next couple of years.”
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