No one welcomed the change in the Section III Class A boys swimming championship schedule mor than West Genesee’s Collin Zapisek.
Originally, they were going to have the meet last Friday at Liverpool, but heavy winter snow forced a postponement, and logistics caused a venue change – to the Wildcats’ home pool.
And it was there, on Saturday afternoon, that Zapisek smashed records and, despite the presence of stars like Liverpool’s Garrett Clarke and Watertown’s Mike Netto, was named the meet’s Most Outstanding Swimmer.
It was in the 200-yard freestyle that Zapisek particularly shined. With a time of one minute, 44.20 seconds, Zapisek broke the pool record that had stood for more than 20 years and qualified him for the Feb. 28-March 1 state meet at Webster Aquatic Center, near Rochester, beating the runner-up, CBA/Jamesville-DeWitt’s Josh Lacey (1:48.99), by more than four seconds.
The 500 freestyle proved even more lopsided. Zapisek kept pulling away from his fellow competitors until he had finished in 4:44.14, with Lacey again in second place (4:54.05), but nearly 10 seconds behind.
Overall, the Wildcats had 192 points, sixth in the 12-team field, and had its best other finish in the 200 medley relay, where Zapisek, joining Nate Gdula, Sean Hagadorn and Matt O’Donnell, got to third place in 1:43.29 as Watertown prevailed in 1:40.75.
