Swimmers Make Waves At Collegiate Level

Ryan Cahalane, a freshman at Boston College, and Andrew Golankiewicz, a freshman at the US Naval Academy, competed at the ECAC Open Swimming and Diving Championships February 25-27 at the Trees Pool at the University of Pittsburgh. Cahalane is from Sandy Hook, and Golankiewicz is a former Sandy Hook resident — both are 19.

Golankiewicz placed sixth in the 100-yard backstroke (51.73), eighth in the 200 backstroke (1:56.12), and swam the backstroke leg on the first-place 400 medley relay team (3:22.34).

After the preliminary heats of the 200 backstroke, Golankiewicz was tied for eighth and needed to have a swim-off, with the winner advancing to the championship finals. He beat his opponent by .03 second with a season-best time of 1:51.67.

Cahalane placed 13th in the 400 yard individual medley (4:15.45), 26th in the 200 yard butterfly (1:59.45) and 35th in the 200 yard individual medley (2:00.99).

The US Naval Academy men’s team won the ECAC Open title with 765.5 points, followed by Boston College with 377 points and the US Military Academy with 336.5 points.