Ridgefield Edges Greenwich For Second State Open Swimming Championship

NEW HAVEN, CT — After winning the CIAC girls swimming State Open for the first time in school history in 2022, Ridgefield High School was disappointed last year by placing second to Greenwich in both the Class LL divisional championships and the Open.

Not that any shame should have been felt, as Greenwich's 31 divisional championships and 21 State Open crowns since 1980 make it among the most formidable dynasties in all of Connecticut high school sports. Nonetheless, Ridgefield came to the Yale University pool Sunday determined to climb back to the top of the mountain.

After being moved to Class L this season by the CIAC, the Tigers blew through the competition at the divisional championships last week, setting the stage for the much-anticipated return showdown with the Cardinals. In the past, Greenwich has utilized its incredible roster depth to accumulate points, as opposed to having a few strong swimmers who won the majority of the dozen individual events.

Greenwich did stockpile 551 points despite not having an event champion, but Ridgefield's eight first-place finishes enabled the Tigers to post a score of 587 to bring home the crown again.

Three State Open records were set during the course of the day. Lily Archibald of Ridgefield (53.37 seconds) trimmed more than half a second off the former 100 butterfly record of 53.88, established by Kelly Montesi of Greenwich in 2017. Archibald then led off the Tigers' 400 freestyle relay team, combining with Bridget Kelly, Ava Ward and Keiora Giles to finish in 3:23.97, obliterating the former mark of 3:27.00 set by Greenwich in 2017.

Riley Anderson of Bacon Academy, who swims with the Manchester co-op squad, completed the 100 freestyle in 49.66, breaking the prior standard of 50.07 set by Annam Olasewere of Staples two years ago.

Cheshire, New Canaan and Darien rounded out the top five teams. A total of 49 programs scored points during the daylong meet.

TEAMS

1. Ridgefield, 587
2. Greenwich, 551
3. Cheshire, 327
4. New Canaan, 262
5. Darien, 233
6. Amity Regional, 200
7. Brookfield, 198.5
8. Pomperaug, 198
9. Wilton, 158
10. Hall, 153

EVENTS

200 medley relay

1. Ridgefield (Luhman, McGerald, Archibald, Kelly), 1:44.60
2. Cheshire (Gajecki, Hearrin, Cahill, Williamson), 1:47.20
3. Greenwich (Kozma, Stehmann, Bozkurt, Norton), 1:48.48

200 freestyle

1. Ava Ward, Ridgefield, 1:49.37
2. Wesley Wales, Greenwich, 1:50.82
3. Bridget Kelly, Ridgefield, 1:51.78

200 individual medley

1. Ana David, Seymour, 2:05.72
2. Ella Gussen, Fairfield Ludlowe, 2:06.61
3. Riley McGerald, Ridgefield, 2:08.12

50 freestyle

1. Riley Anderson, Manchester co-op, 22.67
2. Mia Hatzis, Brookfield, 23.36
3. Charlotte VanDerzee, Darien, 23.47

1-meter diving

1. Emma Kelly, New Canaan, 526.30
2. Myranda Parker, Newington, 486.60 27
3. Jordyn Gould, Guilford, 485.40

100 butterfly

1. Lily Archibald, Ridgefield, 53.37
2. Sena Bozkurt, Greenwich, 54.16
3. Audrey Gil, Barlow/Bethel/Immaculate, 55.92

100 freestyle

1. Riley Anderson, Manchester co-op, 49.66
2. Mia Hatzis, Brookfield, 51.35
3. Charlotte VanDerzee, Darien, 51.36

500 freestyle

1. Ava Ward, Ridgefield, 4:59.52
2. Ellison Charette, Greenwich, 5:03.50
3. Keira Giles, Ridgefield, 5:07.19

200 freestyle relay

1. Ridgefield (Griffin, Giles, Muney, Ward), 1:35.51
2. Greenwich (Bozkurt, Worden, Wales, Charette), 1:36.45
3. Cheshire (Hearrin, Gutmann, Superchi, Williamson), 1:39.02

100 backstroke

1. Lily Archibald, Ridgefield, 55.14
2. Natalia Gajecki, Cheshire, 55.70
3. Sena Bozkurt, Greenwich, 56.31

100 breaststroke

1. Riley McGerald, Ridgefield, 1:05.43
2. Ana David, Seymour, 1:05.96
3. Emma Giafardino, Norwalk/McMahon, 1:05.98

400 freestyle relay

1. Ridgefield (Archibald, Kelly, Ward, Giles), 3:23.97
2. Greenwich (Wales, Worden, Charette, Geiger), 3:33.18
3. Cheshire (Superchi, Cahill, Tejeda, Gajecki), 3:36.27

Complete results may be found here.