The final league meet of the Finger Lakes League Girls Swimming and Diving season came down to Pal-Mac and Gananda/Wayne for the regular season championship.
Pal-Mac (PM), winners of the previous four league championships, would have to beat their challengers head-to-head to defend their title. Gananda/Wayne (G/W), led by coach Dani Richards, matched Pal-Mac in the standings all season. Both teams were undefeated in the league leading up to Thursday night.
Both Richards and Pal-Mac Coach Chris Oaks, who live in the same neighborhood and had their teams train together over the summer, knew it would come down to this final dual meet. “Both teams knew this was going to be a great meet,” remarked Oaks. “It has been the talk of both teams since the end of last season and both teams were excited to finally swim against each other.”
Gananda started strong, taking first and third in the 200 Medley Relay (G/W Catalano, Richards, Schwandt, Conner) to establish a 10-4 lead. In the 200 Freestyle, G/W continued their winning ways with Emma Catalano taking first and her team taking second and fifth, growing their lead to 21-9. G/W took two additional first place finishes in the 200 Individual Medley (Richards) and the 50 Freestyle (Conner), bringing the score to 36-25.
Unfazed, Pal-Mac made adjustments and slowly began to chip away at the deficit.
Jillian Anthony won the 100 Fly and Elizabeth Share won the 100 Freestyle for Pal-Mac, their first two wins of the meet. Anthony continued PM’s momentum by winning the 500 Freestyle, cutting Gananda/Wayne’s lead to just two points.
Gananda/Wayne came back strong by winning the 200 Freestyle Relay (Catalano, Richards, Schwandt, Conner) beating PM by less than two seconds and increasing the team’s lead to four points.
Pal-Mac countered when Elizabeth Share, a double winner, ended her night with a win in the 100 Backstroke, bringing her team back within two points of the lead.
PM’s Sydney Richards won her fourth event of the night by taking the 100 Breaststroke and her teammate, Reese Newman, placed third by a razor-thin margin of 0.12 seconds.
Going into the final race – the 400 Freestyle Relay – Gananda/Wayne was clinging to a four-point lead. To win their fifth straight regular season title, Pal-Mac’s relay teams would need to take first and third.
PM’s team of Ike, Becker, Share, and Newman took first place, leaving the championship in the hands of their second relay team of Anthony, Hatfalvi, Frechette, and Henley. They needed at least a third-place finish to retain the team title. They took second, and kept Pal-Mac’s reign alive for another year.
With a much smaller team compared to previous years, the 2023 Pal-Mac squad relied on versatility – a readiness to switch events on short notice in order to capitalize on favorable matchups and maximize team points.
“We have worked hard to teach our girls to believe they are strong and capable of swimming any event,” explained Pal-Mac Assistant Coach Becky DeSol. “Modifying the lineup in real-time the way Chris does is not something many coaches are comfortable doing, but it can be done when coaches and swimmers trust each other. At a moment’s notice, they need to be ready for what their team needs. Tonight, the girls demonstrated their grit and earned this win. We couldn’t be more proud of them.”
“I am so excited for this team,” added Oaks. “It was an unbelievable meet and both teams swam well. Gananda/Wayne led the entire time until the final relay. They are an up-and-coming program in the Finger Lakes and we swam just well enough to hold them off for another year.”
