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By James Kinneen
Hometown Weekly Reporter
It was the final dual meet for the Medfield Warriors swim team on Thursday afternoon at the Dedham Town Pool, but for seniors Emma Keating and Pari Ahmadi, it was far more. Thursday night was Senior Night, marking the end of their careers as regular-season Medfield swimmers (though there is a postseason). Unfortunately, the team could not send their seniors out with a victory, dropping a tight match to Norwood, 99-85.
The day started with Medfield’s five divers, Tyler Holm, Izzy Brown, Ella Dailey, Lizzy Lynch and Lara Wilson, taking center stage. The crowd appreciated their variety of impressive moves, but in the end, a Norwood diver would take first place.
It’s not just the seniors that face each other in coed competition, though. Many heats, both individual and medley, saw boys and girls in the same race; this is something they do in all of their dual meets, but not in states or sectionals.
While the team lost the meet, dropping their record to 2-5-1, coach Linnea Borjestadt was pleased with her team, specifically her two departing seniors.
“They did a great job tonight,” said Coach Borjestadt. “They really left it all out there in the pool. Everyone played their part in the team; we fell a little bit short, but we’re going to come back stronger next year. Our biggest standouts tonight were our seniors, Pari Ahmadi and Emma Keating. It was their Senior Night, so they really pulled it off for us today. Pari won both of her events, or came in second and first in one of them.”
A Medfield swimmer gasps for air during the butterfly.
When it came to pivotal races, Borjestadt pointed to Owen Brand’s performance in the 500.
“The pivotal race was Owen’s Brand’s 500. Owen Brand came back, and we got first and second in the 500,” explained the coach. “And our 200 free relays came in both first and third, so that was big for us tonight.”
Perhaps the night’s most impressive performance came when Kylie Herbstzuber swam a 2.19.87 in the 200-yard individual medley. Herbstzuber was able to finish the race, stand, and look at the clock before the second-place finisher touched the wall - nearly eight seconds later.
One of the more disappointing moments of the match came from Lorenzo Gatti, although it was not his fault. In flashy red trunks, Gatti won the 100-yard freestyle, then looked up and saw that he had finished with a blazing time of just over 52 seconds. A shocked Gatti looked to his teammates, only to be told that the timer was two seconds off, and he had actually won with a time of 54.50. Impressive nonetheless.
With the TVL meet coming up, as well as sectionals and states, the team was far from done swimming. Still, looking back on the season, Coach Burjestadt is happy with how her team performed.
“I think they did a really great job this season. We’re so sad to lose our two seniors, but we’re just going to come back longer next year. We can’t wait.”
