Relay teams make consolation finals

by Eric Keppeler
Lewiston Porter Sentinel, March 3, 2007

It was supposed to be a rebuilding year, but the Lewiston-Porter boys swim team still managed to send a pair of relay teams to the consolation finals at last weekend’s Section VI championship at Sweet Home High School.

Seniors Dan Campbell and Aderin Russell combined with freshmen Nik Curry and Adam Swift on the 200-meter freestyle relay and the 400 freestyle relay. The foursome clocked in at 3:32.00 in the 400 free relay to finish 12th overall, and also had a time of 1:34.12 in the 200 free relay for 14th place.

“The seniors really came through, and the freshmen are rising stars,” said Lew-Port swim coach Joe Lauzonis. “They did a tremendous job to get that far. They all worked hard and they posted their best times of the season.”

It says a lot about this year’s small crop of seniors.

Last year, they were part of a Lancers team that was extremely talented, deep and competitive in the Niagara Frontier League. Most of that team graduated, so this year’s edition of the Lancers had to rely on unproven youngsters.

It wasn’t easy for the six remaining seniors.

“It was hard to adjust because last year we had such a good team,” Campbell said. “Now coming into this year, everyone had to step it up a little bit. The biggest thing is to encourage the younger swimmers to do their best.”

Any time you use the term “rebuilding phase,” it’s usually bad news for the current crop of seniors because they know they’ll be long gone by the time the team is actually experienced enough to be competitive.

But these seniors were able to keep their focus, both individually and as a team.

“It’s a little frustrating at first, but then you just start working hard and concentrate on getting better,” Russell said. “Even if the team as a whole doesn’t do well, we can still focus on the relays and other individual accomplishments.”

That work ethic must have rubbed off on the younger swimmers, who responded well enough to get the relay teams into the second day of competition at sectionals.

Even though they didn’t place, the experience will be invaluable for the youngsters.

“It’s still an accomplishment to have made it this far,” Campbell said. “I wasn’t sure we’d be able to, but we had a real good effort and I’m glad we made it.”

For his next trick, Campbell is headed to Niagara County Community College to continue his swimming career.

The Trailblazers don’t currently have a swimming program, but they do have a pool – and Campbell and a few others are determined to start a program.

In the meantime, this year’s seniors left a solid legacy for the youngsters who will be back next year at Lew-Port.

“I’m actually pretty surprised that we made it this far, especially after losing everyone that we lost,” Russell said. “The younger guys are talented, but we try and push them when we can.”