The Malden High School’s Varsity Swim Team narrowly dodges defeat in a Swim Meet with the Arlington High School’s Varsity Swim Team, with a final score of 87 - 83.
The meet began with a win for Malden in the 200 meter relay medley event. In a relay medley event, the order of strokes that are performed is a back stroke followed by a breaststroke, butterfly and freestyle. Junior David Lombardi started the team off with a strong lead, pulling ahead of Arlington in the first 50 meters, with Arlington close on their tail. The following swimmer, Sophomore Tony Geich, kept up the pressure, maintaining the lead over Arlington in the subsequent 50 meters as Arlington trailed closely behind. The following swimmer, Sophomore Nathan Ngyuen, kept up the lead in the butterfly stroke portion of the relay, giving Senior Haoxi Wang the lead he needed to complete the final 50 meters first with Arlington finishing closely behind.
In the 200 meter free relay event, Malden faced an upsetting loss. In the first 50 meters, Lombardi pulled an early lead, followed by Geich who kept up the lead as Arlington closely trailed behind. This all changed by the 100th meter when Arlington started to gain a small lead over Ryan Vasili In the final 50 meters, Arlington maintained this lead, winning the 200 meter free relay event.
By the 100 meter Back event, Lombardi gained pulled ahead, gaining an early lead in the first 50 meters. This all changed in the subsequent 50 meters, where Arlington began to pull ahead. Lombardi fought back, tailing Arlington until he could pull ahead. In the end, Lombardi won the 100 meter event by the skin of his teeth, barely beating Arlignton in the 100 meter Back event.
Overall, Coach Bisson felt that the team did very well in the day’s meet. Bisson explained that the line up for the day’s meet was changed up a bit, and it worked out for the team in the end.
