It was a rough dual-meet season for Tamaqua’s Rebecca Kanaskie and Danielle DeCindio.
For independent swimmers Timmy Dando and Katherine Kurzinsky of Marian, there wasn’t a dual-meet season.
Those facts didn’t matter Saturday at the Schuylkill League Swimming Championships at Pottsville’s Ned Hampford Natatorium.
Kanaskie, DeCindio, Dando and Kurzinsky each won a pair of gold medals, spearheading big days for schools that haven’t grabbed many headlines so far this season.
DeCindio, a senior, won the 100-yard butterfly (1:04.05) and 50 butterfly
(28.85), while sophomore teammate Kanaskie took first in the 200 individual medley (2:22.74 season best) and 100 breaststroke (1:12.62).
Junior Ben Turrano added a victory in the boys’ 100 butterfly (58.87) for Tamaqua, which has a combined 3-25 record between its boys’ and girls’ teams.
“As a season, we’ve all been working toward more individual goals,” Kanaskie said. “It’s just really nice to have your own moments today. I thought winning gold twice today really fulfilled that for me.”
DeCindio and Kanaskie are no strangers to success, as the pair were key components to Tamaqua’s 2014 Schuylkill League championship squad.
DeCindio, who scored her 1,000th career point earlier this season, won three league golds a year ago, winning the 50 fly and swimming a leg on Tamaqua’s winning 200 medley and 400 freestyle relay teams.
Kanaskie won two golds a year ago, then medalled at districts and qualified for the PIAA Swimming Championships in the 200 IM.
Saturday, in addition to their two individual golds, Kanaskie and DeCindio were also part of the Blue Raiders’ 200 medley and 200 freestyle relay teams that finished second in both events.
“It was my last year, and I didn’t want to hold anything back. I wanted to do the best I could today,” DeCindio said. “The butterfly takes a lot of endurance. I just pushed through the pain and didn’t hold anything back.
“I was ready to shine through today.”
Kanaskie is hoping the times she posted Saturday are indicators of more success at the district level and another trip to states.
“In the 200 IM and the breaststroke, I’m getting better times earlier in the season than I did last year,” she said. “So winning them today and getting better times opens my mind, ‘Hey, this might mean a better place in districts and placement in states.’ ”
Marian swimmers
garner 5 golds
Dando and Kurzinsky made an immediate impact a year ago at leagues as freshmen, each winning a gold medal.
The duo doubled that Saturday, as Dando placed first in the 200 freestyle (1:52.04) and 500 freestyle (5:11.60), while Kurzinsky grabbed gold in the 100 backstroke (1:01.89) and 100 freestyle (56.35).
Fellow sophomore Angelina Krupko gave Marian a fifth gold medal when she won the 50 breaststroke in 33.54.
“It was great to come in, make some improvements and move toward the times we need for districts,” Kurzinsky said. “We’ve all been practicing hard. Our coaches have really been pumped us up. To have the encouragement and be confident in your skills is really great.”
The Marian and Weatherly swimmers each train five days a week at the Hazleton YMCA, then swim at Tamaqua dual meets to post times for league and district seeding purposes.
Their training has paid off, as all three Marian swimmers dropped considerable time in their events.
Dando was 4.26 seconds faster in the 200 freestyle and nearly 22 seconds faster in the 500 freestyle, while Kurzinsky dropped just over two seconds in the 100 backstroke and recorded a season-best time in the 100 freestyle.
Three other independent swimmers — Weatherly’s Jacob Sirkot (50 breaststroke), Millersburg freshman Noah Reed (100 breaststroke) and Halifax’ Ava Kappenhagen (50 backstroke) — also won events Saturday.
“It’s great whenever you can cut time off like that in chunks in one race,” said Dando, who credited Hazleton YMCA coach Rob Gould and current Tamaqua coach Al Bostdorff for pushing the Marian swimmers in training. “I’m thrilled about that.”
Zimmerman, Adams
lead strong day by
Hurricane girls
While Blue Mountain’s Nathanael Marino and Mark Boran won four golds on the boys’ side (see other story), Schuylkill Haven’s Mary Zimmerman accomplished the same feat on the girls’ side.
Zimmerman repeated as champion in the 200 freestyle (2:09.18) and 500 freestyle (5:49.49), then helped Haven win the girls’ 200 medley relay and 200 freestyle relay titles.
In the 200 medley relay, Allison Adams, Taylor Felty, Kali Muthersbaugh and Zimmerman won in 2:00.14. In the 200 free relay, Adams, Felty, Elizabeth Bayliff and Zimmerman posted a season-best 1:46.82 en route to a three-second victory over Tamaqua.
Adams grabbed Schuylkill Haven’s fourth gold of the day — and her third — when she repeated as champion in the 50 freestyle (25.82).
Other girls’ champions were Blue Mountain’s Erica Donohue (100 IM) and the Pottsville quartet of Katie Deegan, Megan Berdanier, Michaela Zanis and Sarah Corse-Campion in the 400 freestyle relay.
“I thought my swims today were pretty good. They were faster than I’ve been going consistently this season,” Zimmerman said. “Hopefully I’ll get better before I get to districts.
“Districts, for myself and my team, will be the real test to see how good we are. Districts is our main goal, and that’s what we’ve been working toward.”
Pottsville boys
capture 3 events
During one of the meet’s intermissions, the Pottsville boys’ team was presented its Schuylkill League championship team trophy.
It wasn’t the only piece of hardware the Crimson Tide took home.
The Pottsville boys won three events, as Josh Marx took first in the 50 butterfly (24.92), Charlie Botto won the 50 backstroke (28.97) and the quartet of Botto, Tanner Steinhart, Michael Logothetides and Ryan Scanlan won the 200 medley relay in 1:50.88.
The Tide’s biggest thrill came after the meet, when long-time head coach Ned Hampford not only got thrown in the pool as part of a victory celebration, but successfully swam a 50 butterfly to the delight of his swimmers and the Pottsville fans.