By Lesley Graham
In front of a packed house Friday afternoon, the Ocean City High School boys and girls swim teams battled Mainland to a split decision.
The girls’ team defeated Mainland 91-79, while the boys fell 107-63 at the Ocean City Community Center.
Both teams had a number of key races in what is always a heated competition between the rival schools. Both teams kept fans on the edge of their seats with thrilling races decided by mere tenths of seconds.
On the girls’ side, Ocean City senior Andrea Teofanova was victorious in the 200 and 400 meter freestyle events. She was also a member of the winning 400 meter freestyle relay.
Brynn Bowman, a junior, was a winner for the Red Raiders in the 100 meter breaststroke and also swam the breaststroke leg of the winning 200 meter medley relay.
Despite key wins from individuals, Head Coach Ian Keyser said it was a total team effort that helped secure the victory for Ocean City.
“Awesome performance from top to bottom with our team, from the way we started to the way we finished,” Keyser said. “I could not be more proud of how they responded and fought through this meet.”
It was a close meet, with Ocean City taking an early lead by 10 points after the first two events. Mainland chipped away little by little, closing the gap to six points before the final relay of the afternoon.
With a first and third place finish in the 400 freestyle relay, Ocean City was able to celebrate the victory.
On the boys’ side, it was once again a close start to the meet, before Mainland started accumulating first place finishes in the majority of races.
Ocean City senior Ben Wiley won the 50 meter freestyle, narrowly defeating Mainland’s Skylar Booth.
Dolan Grisbaum, an Ocean City sophomore, took second in the 400 meter freestyle, but set a school record in the process with a time of 4:12.85.
The Ocean City boys’ 200 meter freestyle relay of Nate Hays, Brian Walsh, Peter Horowitz and Wiley swimming the anchor leg also set a new school record on the afternoon, clocking in with a time of 1:42.51.
The Red Raiders were able to pick up second and third place finishes in many of the events, keeping them within striking distance of the Mustangs. But ultimately the wins by Mainland were too much to overcome.
