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Neptune swimmers prepare for N.C. meet
By Brian Dzenis
It’s been a little more than a month since the high school swim season has ended, but some of the Mahoning Valley’s best swimmers aren’t done in the pool.
The Youngstown YMCA Neptune Swim Team is sending four swimmers to the YMCA Short Course National Championship Meet in Greensboro, N.C. The week-long meet starts on April 1.
The foursome of Boardman’s Noah Basista and Matthew Dunlany and Canfield’s Bobby Kutsch and Jason Paris is more than what Neptune usually sends to Greensboro.
“In the past several years, we’ve had one or two kids qualify for one or two events,” Neptune coach Jamie Stahl said. “This is first year we’ll have a group of swimmers in relays.”
The group could have been a little larger. Boardman’s Will Linker qualified for nationals in the 200 and 100 freestyle and Jake Lawrence of Austintown Fitch qualified in the 100 butterfly, but the pair elected not to go to Greensboro, Stahl said.
All four boys form the 200 medley, 200 freestyle, 400 medley and 400 freestyle relay teams.
Individually, Basista will compete in the 100 and 200 breaststroke as well as the 200 inter medley after winning all three events at the 2019 Great Lake Zones Championship Meet, which features the best of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky and West Virginia.
He set meet records in both breaststroke events in the Zones meet.
“I think there’s big expectations coming off the state meet. I’m looking to drop more time,” Basista said. “I want to qualify for finals in my events and have our relays do pretty well too.”
Dunlany qualified in the 100 and 200 butterfly. Paris punched his individual ticket in the 50 freestyle and teammate Kutsch did so in the 100 freestyle.
Among the four relays, the 200 medley performed the best at the Zones meet, taking a runner up finish.
Basista and Dunlany were qualifiers for the Division I state swim meet this past winter. Basista placed eighth in the 100 breaststroke to get on a podium.
With some help from another school on 224, he could get a couple more medals.
“It’s really cool because you get to swim with everyone. In other sports, these guys are our big rivals, but in swimming, we’re all friends even if we compete with each other,” Basista said.