The Ledyard-Stonington Swim Team Annual Banquet will be held at Connecticut College, Harris Refectory at 9:00am on Sunday, May 3rd.
Tickets are $10.00 per person and will be sold at the door.
Please have checks payable to Friends of Stonington High Swimmers.
For Reservations or Questions? donald.e.nelson@comcast.net
OR 860-535-3084.
Directions at http://www.conncoll.edu/about/Campus_Map.htm
Harris Refectory is Building 12 on the map.
Don’t miss this great celebration!!
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( 2.9 / 34 )Reprinted courtesy of the Westerly Sun
MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – The Ledyard/Stonington co-op boys’ swim team finished 19th out of 22 schools in the Class M state championship meet Tuesday night at Wesleyan University.
The team scored 65 points, with Stonington High’s four swimmers - Jordan Estabrooks, Ethan Palmer, Bryan Levine and Ryan Lee - accounting for 54½ of them.
New Canaan won the Class M title with 615 points. East Lyme finished highest of the three ECC teams. The Vikings came in 11th with 240 points.
Ledyard/Stonington’s best finish was in the 200-yard freestyle relay.
The Stonington quartet swam that race in 1 minute, 37.29 seconds, and finished 15th in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:50.24.
Estabrooks scored in two individual events, taking 20th in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:08.96 and 21st in the 100 breaststroke, swimming 1:05.83. Twenty-four swimmers participated in both races.
Palmer combined with three Ledyard swimmers – Kevin Oswald, John Adams and Travis Walters – to take 18th in the 400 freestyle relay. Their time was 3:56.66.
The meet marks the end of the season for Ledyard/Stonington. All four Stonington swimmers who competed in the state meet are underclassmen.
Lee is a freshman, the other three are juniors.
Lee broke a toe in a gym class last Friday, according to Ledyard/ Stonington coach Alan Opsahl, and could not compete in Saturday’s Class M qualifying meet. But he was eligible for the relays and received medical clearance to swim.
This was the fifth year that Stonington joined an existing Ledyard program to form the co-op.
Opsahl has compiled records for the Stonington and Ledyard swimmers separately and Estabrooks owns three Stonington records – the 200 IM (2:07.52), the 100 free (52.96) and 100 breaststroke (1:05.83). Palmer has the best 50 free time (23.95) among Bear swimmers.
Eastabrooks lowered his breaststroke time by 0.70 in Tuesday’s meet.
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( 3 / 30 )Congratulations to the 2009 ECC 4x200 Relay Bronze Medalists!
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( 2.9 / 29 )By Doug Champion - The Westerly Sun Staff
GROTON – It’s a boys’ world for girls’ swimmers at Stonington High.
That poses some interesting challenges for the 10 Stonington High girls who swim on the Ledyard-Stonington cooperative boys’ swimming team.
In Connecticut, the girls’ high school teams swim in the fall season and the boys’ teams swim in the winter season. Until five years ago, Stonington had no swimming teams and Ledyard had teams for both girls and boys.
With the Ledyard boys’ squad-size diminishing rapidly, Stonington was asked to join Ledyard to form a cooperative boys’ team and Alan Opsahl, the assistant coach of the Ledyard girls’ team, was named head coach of the cooperative boys’ team.
On the Stonington side of the co-op, there are 10 girls and four boys. The Ledyard side numbers 10 boys and one girl. The total of 25 seems needed to field a competitive team.
The girl-to-boy ratio from Stonington has been increasing. It was 7:5 last season and 3:5, 0:3 and 2:6 in the preceding three seasons.
“The girls coming on our team now have had more experience,” Opsahl said. “A lot have started when they were 8 or 9 years-old. They’ve been swimming at the Y (Mystic or Westerly- Pawcatuck) and some at the Connecticut Aquatic Club based at Avery Point. They’re not overwhelmed to be swimming competitively or to be competing against boys.
“We have twice as many girls now as boys. It’s catching on. Success breeds success and the word gets around. But it’s hard to get a feel for why swimming is not as popular generally as most other high school sports.”
The Stonington girls have made a significant contribution to the team’s success. In helping compile a 9-5 dual-meet mark against ECC teams, these girls have won a variety of races (50- yard freestyle, 100 free, 100 backstroke, 200 free and 500 free) and have scored consistently in those and all other races.
At Saturday’s ECC championships, three Stonington girls (all sophomores) scored in double events for the co-op.
Kaitlyn Donch placed 10th in the 500 freestyle and 11th in the 200 free. Eva Nelson was 10th in the 200 individual medley and 13th in the 100 butterfly. Dawn Bridgham finished 11th in the 500 free and 13th in the 200 free.
These three girls shared their thoughts in post-race interviews about what it is like to swim on a boys’ team and whether they would prefer to compete strictly against girls.
“It’s really challenging,” Nelson said. “I’d rather swim with the guys. It’s a different kind of a feel. Guys are a lot more fun.
“But, I’d definitely go (if we had a girls’ team). We’d get a lot farther, like in qualifying for states. I’d love to try it out. We’d do better.”
As in many other sports, the boys seem to have the physical advantage. But these girls see some benefits for them in improving themselves through direct competition.
“The boys are physically better,” Donch said. “They’re a lot more competitive. They tend to do better in the shorter races. In the distances you need a lot more technique. You need to swim smart. And the boys’ muscles weigh them down.
“We’d be able to get further (with an all-girls’ team). But swimming with the boys is really fun and I would still like to practice with them. You can be more yourself with the boys. Some girls get mean and the claws come out.”
The girls on the co-op team did have the opportunity to compete as a group at the Splash Classic on Feb. 28 at a girls-only swimming meet at East Lyme and placed sixth out of 20 teams competing.
“It was more exciting,” Bridgham said. “We all placed well. It was more satisfying.
“I would definitely swim on a girls’ team. We’d do a lot better and go farther. But swimming with the boys has made us faster and stronger and we swim a lot better because of it.”
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( 3 / 29 )By David Madden, The Westerly Sun Staff
GROTON – Jordan Estabrooks secured the Ledyard/Stonington swim team’s top two individual finishes with a second and third place finish in the ECC championship meet Saturday at UConn-Avery points.
Estabrooks, a Stonington High junior, came in second place in the 200-yard freestyle after he turned in a time of 1 minute 52.54 seconds.
“It was a good swim for me,” Estabrooks said. “I was able to take it out fast and bring it back fast.”
East Lyme’s Harry Traystman took first in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:46.34.
“He (Traystman) stays constant at a really good pace. I’ve really got to hand it to him,” Estabrooks said.
Estabrooks said he was pleased with his performance overall.
He also said he was satisified that he remained relatively close to Traystman, after losing by a wide margin to him in a dual meet.
Estabrooks also came in third in the 500 freestyle. His time of 5:08.85 was less than two seconds behind second place finisher Henry Kietzman of Fitch.
“I dropped six seconds from my best time. The rest of the guys in the pool really pushed me. Overall, I felt I swam really well,” Estabrooks said.
Estabrooks was also part of the third place 400 free relay team (3:38.68) that also included Ethan Palmer, Ryan Lee and Bryan Levine. The same team also came in fourth place in 200 medley relay team with a time of 1:51.41.
“We expected a good time from Jordan in the 200 and got it,” Stonington/Ledyard coach Alan Opsahl said. “In the 500 we were looking for a first or second. It’s all about the pace. He dropped his time by six seconds, but I think he can go faster.”
As a team, Stonington/Ledyard finished in fourth place overall with a team score of 249 points, four points ahead of fifth place Windham/RHAM.
“Overall, we were a little disappointed,” Opsahl said. “We had our best times in some of our races, but in some we didn’t. We were looking to move up in all positions and we weren’t able to do that. At this time of year, you really want to be able to post your best times.”
East Lyme took first as a team with a score of 468. Fitch came in second with a score of 332.
Lee, in addition to his relay finishes, placed fourth in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:13.59, and sixth in the 100 freestyle with a 53.44.
Levine came in fifth in the individual medley after he posted a time of 2:14.11. He also came in seventh in the 100 butterfly with a time of 1:01.41.
Palmer swam a 1:04.28 and came in fifth in the 100 backstroke. His time of 24.27 in the 50 freestyle was good enough for seventh.
Sophomores Dawn Bridgham and Kaitlyn Donch both swam in the 200 and 500 freestyle events.
Donch came in 10th in 500 (5:53.43) and 13th in the 200 (2:10.05).
Bridgham finished 11th (5:55.93) in the 500 and 11th in the 200 (2:10.01).
Eva Nelson, another sophomore, came in 10th in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:26.63. She also placed 13th in the 100 butterfly with a 1:06.80.
Emily Hutter rounded out the scoring for Ledyard/Stonington with a 15th place finish in the 100 backstroke (1:09.97).
Ledyard/Stonington will now prepare for the Class M preliminaries next Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven.
Coach Opsahl was not certain how many of his swimmers will compete in the prelims, but was sure that both Estabrooks and Lee would be swimming.
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( 2.8 / 24 )Congratulations to the Ledyard-Stonington girls for a successful 2009 Splash Classic. Way to go !!!
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( 2.7 / 18 )
Everyone knows what powerful swimmers our girls are. On Saturday, February 28, we'll get to see them compete in a pool of their peers at the Splash Classic.
Come support our girls Saturday 2:30 pm at the East Lyme facility. It's going to be loud and crowded, so plan on arriving early. For a list of seed times and past years results, visit the Splash Classic Web Site
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( 3.1 / 14 )[14-0] East Lyme Vikings
[10-4] Windham/RHAM Whippets
[10-4] Fitch Falcons
[9-5] Ledyard/Stonington Colonel Bears
[7-7] Waterford Lancers
[4-10] NFA Wildcats
[2-12] New London Whalers
[0-14] St. Bernard Saints
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( 3.2 / 18 )Clockwise, starting upper left:
Tom Malone, Kevin Oswald, John Adams (Captain), and Travis Walters
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( 3.1 / 17 )By The Westerly Sun Staff
NEW LONDON – Jordan Estabrooks finished in first place in two individual events and was part of a first-place relay finish as Ledyard/Stonington high school co-op swimming defeated Windham 93-79 in an ECC meet Monday.
The win closed out Stonington’s regular season with a win and an 8-5 mark. One make-up meet with New London is expected to raise their season record to 9-5.
Estabrooks finished first in the 200 yard individual medley with a time of 2 minutes 7.78 seconds and first in the 100 breaststroke in 1:07.08. Estabrooks, Ryan Lee, Bryan Levine and Ethan Palmer took first place in the 200 medley relay in 1:51.75.
Palmer’s time of 1:04.01 was tops in the 100 backstroke. He also placed third in the 50 freestyle (24.62). Lee came in first in the 100 freestyle (53.24). Lee also came in second in the 50 freestyle in 24.55.
Eva Nelson placed second in the 500 freestyle (5:48.05) and third in the 100 butterfly (1:08.22). Levine’s time of 1:04.87 was good enough for second in the 100 butterfly. Levine also finished third in the 200 individual medley in 2:20.90.
Dawn Bridgham came in second in the 200 freestyle after she posted a time of 2:07.78. She also came fourth in the 500 freestyle in 5:50.75.
Kaitlyn Donch’s third place finish in the 200 freestyle (2:10.72) and 500 freestyle (5:49.20) and Emily Hutter’s third-place finish in the 100 backstroke (1:10.48) rounded out the scoring.
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( 2.9 / 16 )From the Westerly Sun February 13, 2009
NEW LONDON – Jordan Estabrooks, Bryan Levine and Ethan Palmer won six of the eight individual events and a relay to lead the Stonington/Ledyard high school co-op boys’ swim team to an ECC win Friday.
Estabrooks won the 200-yard freestyle in 1 minute, 57.79 seconds and the 500 free in 5:14.41. Levine won the 200 individual medley in 2:21.85 and the 100 butterfly in 1:03.57.
Palmer won the 50 free in 24.55 and the 100 free in 54.64. The three Stonington swimmers combined with Kevin Oswald of Ledyard to win the 200 medley relay.
Eva Nelson was third in the 200 IM (2:32.31) and fourth in the 100 fly (1:09.43).
Emily Hutter was second in the 100 backstroke in 1:11.32.
Dawn Bridgham was third in the 200 free (2:10.11) and the 500 free (5:57.35).
Kaitlyn Donch completed the scoring with fourth-place finishes in the 200 free (2:12.57) and 500 free (5:58.84).
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( 3.2 / 13 )Several members of the team having fun before the Waterford meet and Coach Al putting the final touches on his strategy.
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( 3.2 / 13 )FROM The Westerly Sun, Saturday, February 7, 2009
BOYS’ SWIMMING Ledyard/Stonington 107.5 Waterford 62.5
NEW LONDON – The co-op team gained a measure of revenge with a dominant win in the ECC meet on Friday.
Waterford gave Ledyard/Stonington (6-4 overall and ECC) its first loss of the season with a 92-91 decision on Jan. 13.
Jordan Estabrooks, Dawn Bridgham and Kaitlyn Donch swept the top three finishes in the 500-yard freestyle.
Estabrooks won in 5 minutes, 21.33 seconds. Bridgham followed in 5:46.49 and Donch touched in 5:50.27. The trio also took three of the top four spots in the 200 free with Estabrooks winning in 1:54.59.
Bridgham was third in 2:06.95 and Donch was fourth in 2:11.91. Estabrooks, Ethan Palmer and Bryan Levine were on the winning 200 medley relay (1:52.96) and the top-finishing 200 free relay (no time provided).
Donch and Eva Nelson were on the 400 free relay that won in 4:12. Palmer won the 50 free in 23.92 and the 100 back in 1:03.64.
Levine won the 200 individual medley (2:21.9) followed by Nelson in third (2:25.53). Nelson was second in the 100 butterfly in 1:06.75 and Levine was second in the 100 free with a time of 58.61.
Emily Hutter was third in the 100 back, touching in 1:09.58.
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( 2.8 / 12 )
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( 3.2 / 15 )This is a new section of our website. If you have any photos to submit, please send to Don Nelson or Charles Estabrooks. If we get many, we can do "Photo of the Day".
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( 3 / 18 )Tuesday January 6 brought the first meet of the season against perennially competitive Fitch High School. The new L-S lineup rose to the challenge, coming on strong and taking first and third places during the opening event, the Medley Relay. The team held the lead and never looked back, finishing with a final score of 94-76.
Among the strong finishes were wins in the 200 free (1:54.76) and 500 free (5:19.06) for Jordan Estabrooks; First place in the 50 free (24.65) and the 100 backstroke (1:02.94) for Ethan Palmer; and wins in the 100 free (54.12) and the 200 individual medley (2:12.43) by Ryan Lee.
Also in the points were Bryan Levine, second in the 100 butterfly (1:01.85) and third in the 200 IM (2:19.38); Dawn Bridgham, fourth in the 200 free (2:07.40) and fourth in the 500 free (5:47.97); Eva Nelson, fourth in the 100 fly (1:08.05) and fifth in the 500 free (5:57.46); Emily Hutter, fifth in the 200 free (2:22.06) and fifth in the 100 backstroke (1:12.92); and Jacqueline Johnson fifth in the 100 fly (1:21.33).
The Westerly Sun ran an article covering the highlights of the meet and a nice preview of the season on their web site.
The team's next meet on Friday will be vs. St. Bernard at Avery Point. Starting time is 5 pm.
For those that haven't found it, there is a team program available for download on the forms page. You can print this out and bring it to the meets to help keep score and follow the order of events.
Apologies for the lack of posts prior to this one. If anyone is able to help update this site, please contact me. In particular, I am looking for someone to revise and post the updated swim program after each meet. My information can be found on the contact page.
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( 2.7 / 15 )The ECC championships on Saturday certainly lived up to expectations. If you've seen any of the dual meets beetween the three co-champions (L/S, Fitch, E. Lyme), you know how competitive they can be. Throw all three of them into the pool together, add a mix of Waterford and Windham swimmers to act as spoilers, and the meet actually exceeded the hype.
While East Lyme swam to a comfortable victory, the race for second was tight. Ledyington entered the final event of the day with a scant four point lead over Fitch. With L/S favored to take first in the 4x100, they stood a good chance to end the day in second place overall, but they would have to work for it.
It was a fast heat as the Fitch relay team swam to within a tenth second of the ECC record. The "Car Pool" quartet of Tyler Tremblay, Dan Nohara, Jay Lockaby, and Seth Adams finished a quarter second ahead of Fitch, in the process breaking the ECC record with a time of 3:24.89. These same four have been swimming with the Camels*, proving that round-the-year training makes a big difference!
The final score was E. Lyme: 428, L/S: 354, Fitch: 344, with Waterford, Windham/RHAM, and NFA Rounding out the top six.
Notable performances were turned in by Jay Lockaby who swam for 2nd place in both the 200 and 500 freestyle; Tyler Tremblay, 2nd place in the 50 and 100 freestyle; Seth Adams, 2nd in the 100 Backstroke and 3rd in the 200 IM; Ryan Pelham, 3rd in the 100 Breaststroke and 4th in the 200 IM; Dan Nohara, 4th in the 50 free and 9th in the 200 free; Jordan Estabrooks, 5th in the 200 free and 7th in the 500 free; Ethan Palmer, 6th in the 100 Backstroke and 9th in the 50 free.
The swimmers who have qualified will now look forward to the state championships which begin Saturday, March 8.
* Camels and CAC are the two area swim clubs affiliated with US Swimming.
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( 2.9 / 63 )
If you weren't at Avery Point Monday, you missed an epic battle. Okay, perhaps the military terminology is a bit heavy, but let me just say my ears are still ringing from the din.
I'm talking about the final ECC meet of the season between Fitch and East Lyme. Because of each team's record, Ledyington came out in force to root for Fitch. A win over East Lyme would mean identical records for the three teams, and an equal share of the ECC championship mantle.
Of course, it wasn't enough to reciprocate for Fitch's support by just showing up. The boys stopped off at A. C. Moore to purchase the entire stock of red body paint (photos courtesy Maggie Nelson's Blackberry).
The outcome was decided by the final relay in which Fitch took first and third to come out on top. As the cheers died down, an L-S parent could be heard calling out "Now don't get sick or hurt before ECC's!"
See you Saturday.
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( 2.9 / 59 )In a heated battle for dominance in the ECC, Ledyard-Stonington came out victorious during their meet against East Lyme on Friday. Determined to upset the Vikings' undefeated season, Ledyington gave all they had in an 89-81 win.
East Lyme opened with a strong Medley Relay, and after a few lead changes the outcome was in doubt up until the final event.
With a two point lead entering the 4x100 free relay, a first place finish by Ledyington would clinch the victory while a second plus third would ensure a tie.
The combined effort of Tyler Tremblay, Dan Nohara, Jay Lockaby and Seth Adams led to first place in the final relay and secured the win for their team while the younger quartet of Jordan Estabrooks, Dawn Bridgham, Kaitlyn Donch, and Ryan Pelham notched the third place spot edging the margin of victory to eight points.
The team erupted in cheers as Adams touched the pad knowing they had bested their rivals in the ECC. After the final score was announced and the teams exchanged handshakes, coaches Al Opsahl and Wayne Brusseau got a taste of pool water as the team threw them in by way of congratulations.
Other notable contributions toward the win were made by John Adams and Tom Malone in the 100 Breaststroke, Ethan Palmer in the 50 free and 200 free relay, Seth Adams and Eva Nelson in the 100 Backstroke, and Jay Lockaby and Jordan Estabrooks in the 500 freestyle.
Congratulations to the coaches and swimmers who will now look toward the last two meets of the season prior to the ECC Championships on March 1.
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( 3.3 / 15 )Congratulations Jay Lockaby!
On Tuesday, February 26, Jay shattered the Waterford High School pool record in the 400 Meter Freestyle with a time of 4:31.94. Nice Job Jay!
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( 3.2 / 11 )On Tuesday night the Ledyard/Stonington Co-op swim team defeated New London 70-53. Senior Seth Adams broke the Ledyard 200 yard freestyle record with a time of 1:51.64. The previous record was held by Andrew Dutton from 2002. This is Seth's second record for the year; he previously broke the 100 yard backstroke record in :57.47 which was held by Ian Stammel from 2005. Congratulations Seth!
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( 2.7 / 12 )Thanks to the generosity and quick work of Levine Distributing Co., the new team banner arrived in time for last night's meet against St. Bernard. The design chosen by the captains was based on the new logo used for the team caps
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( 3 / 15 )Due to the weather and school cancellations, the meet against St. Bernard and the subsequent FOSHS meeting have been rescheduled for tomorrow afternoon, same bat time, same bat pool.
Our Next Meeting is Tuesday, January 15th
el Presidenté Carlos
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( 2.8 / 17 )On Friday afternoon, Ledyard-Stonington swam to a decisive victory against last year's ECC champion. This marks the first time in the coop team's history that they've been able to defeat Fitch. Strong performances by captains Seth, Ryan, and Jan and contributions by some of the younger swimmers added up to a 97 to 73 win. It's clear that the confidence is building and the team feels like they can beat anyone in the conference.
Our Next Meeting is Monday, January 14.
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( 2.8 / 11 )In case you missed the invitations, two team dinners are scheduled to sandwich tomorrow's meet against Fitch.
Tonight a pasta dinner will be held at the home of Madison Cannon right after practice.
Tomorrow night following the meet, Shelby Farrell is hosting a Taco Party.
To reach either family for directions or if you'd like to offer help, visit the Contact Page.
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