Considering the number of Section V athletes to qualify for state swimming was down from about 70 to 40 boys, Pittsford coach Rick Schmitt was pleased with how the locals performed Friday and Saturday at Ithaca College.

Pittsford — the 21-time Section V champion — welcomed its newest New York State Public High School Athletic Association champions to the Panther family as Cameron Stetzer, Dylan Magda, Timothy Fan and Lucas Golembiewski won the 200-yard medley relay public school title.

In addition, Pittsford's 400-yard freestyle relay broke the Section V mark, and their 200-yard freestyle relay just missed the section mark. And that's before mentioning the accomplishments of many others who helped Section V place second among public school sections.

"All those guys lived up to their expectations. It's tough to perform at your peak. They all had great meets," Schmitt said.

What it means for Section V swimmers

To go along with Section V's finish, Pittsford placed second as a team.

Schmitt was afraid his Panthers would "lose their edge" with just one meet in the six week preceding states. Instead, Golembiewski's 20.45-second freestyle split lifted Pittsford's 200 medley relay to an NYS title they first realized during January's Yeti Invitational.

"The boys are ecstatic," Schmitt said. "You just don't show up and win states. You have to talk about it, and be prepared mentally and physically."

Swimmer of the Meet

Cameron Stetzer: The Pittsford junior is one of Section V's most improved swimmers. Coaches barely remember him on the team last season. It will be hard to forget about Stetzer after his performances at states. He swam well on all three relays, but his splits in the 200 free relay (20.54) and 200 medley relay (24.62) were "out of this world". His fourth-place swim in the 200-yard individual medley (1:52.80) was the highest Pittsford solo finish.

The one that got away from Stetzer was the 200 free relay with Golembiewski, Owen Corby and Calvin Braun. They were runners-up by 0.17 seconds (1:25.75), and were 0.54 seconds away from the Section V record.

"He's getting into the sport and starting to own it," Schmitt said.

Unsung Heroes at NY state swim meet

Pittsford's 400 free relay: Lucas Golembiewski, Timothy Fan and Dylan Magda each swam well on the record-setting relay. They broke the Section V Class A meet record in February. On Saturday, Pittsford's NYS runner-up relay set a new Section V record (3:06.99), only trailing Section I's Horace Greeley, which set a new NYS record at 3:05.53.

 

Individual finals appearances came from Magda and Fan, who each had eighth-place finishes in the 100-yard breaststroke (58.61) and 100-yard butterfly (51.39), respectively.

"We did well at sectionals and squeezed more out of them at states," Schmitt said. "They maybe had a top-3 time ever in that relay and came up second. That's how difficult it is."

Kamden Keyes: Spencerport's senior swimmer placed third in the 100-yard butterfly when he touched in 50.36 seconds. Last season, Keyes became the program's first boy to qualify for states in six years.

Michael Wood: Irondequoit's senior diver placed second among public school athletes and third in Federation. Wood was the highest placing Section V diver Friday when he scored 521.40 points in the finals — a fine follow-up to his third-place finish in 2022. Wood also won a scholar-athlete award.

NY state swim meet: Section V by the numbers

0.01 - Hilton senior Jacob Runyon clocked a 1:41.45 in his fourth-place 200-yard freestyle swim, just one-hundredth of a second away from bronze.

2 - Records broken by Attica junior Joseph Parkhurst, who surpassed both of his own school records during his preliminary swims in the 50-yard freestyle (21.14) and 100-yard breaststroke (56.95). He'd place fifth in the finals of both events.

4th - The place Fairport's 200-yard medley relay finished in after William Turri, Alex Palmer, Christopher Carrigan and Logan Prosser touched in 1:36.52. Palmer also placed seventh in the 100 breast (58.13).

21.30 - Seconds swam by Canandaigua senior Jared Bjorling during his eighth-place performance in the 50 free.