Swim Team Expects To Be In A Battle For Second With SWC Foes

By Andy Hutchison

Pomperaug of Southbury is expected to win the South-West Conference, Matt Childs, Newtown High School boys’ swim coach, said. From there, any one of five teams, including his, is in the running for second place this season.

Childs says Brookfield, New Milford, Weston, and Joel Barlow of Redding are all competitive teams, and that Newtown is in the mix as well.

“I think we’re going to have some really, really competitive meets,” Childs said. “We need to swim well in order to beat them.”

The Nighthawks, who posted a 9-2 regular season record a year ago, placed third in SWCs and were fourth in the Class L state championships.

Graduates who leave holes to fill include Patrick Stein, Chris Parker and Tony Fragoso, but the Hawks return a wealth of talent.

The top divers back in the mix are junior Maggie Korth and sophomore Shawn Mangold.

Captains are Alex Kron, Matt Iassogna, Luke Fiore, and Kyle O’Connor. Fiore is a sprint freestyler who is a defending State Open qualifier and seven-time school record holder. O’Connor and Iassogna are both butterfly competitors, and Kron is a freestyle/ backstroke swimmer.

Other key swimmers include junior freestyler and breaststroker Abben Hung, junior distance freestyler and intermediate relay swimmer Conor Donnelly, and junior breaststroker Michael Hubbard.

The Nighthawks were scheduled to begin the season Wednesday at New Fairfield (after The Bee sports section went to press), and will host Masuk, Friday, December 18, at 4 pm. After visiting the Bunnell/Stratford co-op on December 22, Newtown will visit Bethel on December 29.

Home meets to circle on Newtown’s schedule include the January 5 clash with Brookfield, a February 9 meet with Weston, and a February 12 meet with New Milford. Additionally, Newtown will host Pomperaug, January 19.