The Swimming Scene: Nassau County Championship Primer

- Samuel Mo vs. Nicholas Spinella

UPDATE: Just saw the heats sheet and Mo and Spinella will sadly not be facing off, as an alert reader noted in the comments section. Mo is swimming the 200 IM and 100 free while Spinella will be swimming the 100 back and 200 free. Booo.

The Set-up: Spinella (Sewanhaka) has qualified for states in seven events: the 200 freestyle, 200 IM, 50 freestyle, 100 butterfly, 100 freestyle, 500 freestyle, 100 backstroke. Mo (Great Neck South) has qualified for states in five events: the 200 freestyle, 200 IM, 100 butterfly, 100 backstroke, 100 breaststroke.

The Plot-lines: Can either Mo or Spinella qualify in even more categories? If they go head-to-head in any events, who comes out on top? While Sewanhaka probably doesn’t have a shot at the county title, Great Neck South is considered the favorite and a big day from Mo could go along way towards assuring them of a second-consecutive Nassau crown.

Things to Consider: Mo has Spinella beat in the 100 backstroke, by 1.29 seconds; Mo has Spinella beat in the 100 butterfly by 1.54 seconds; Spinella beat Mo in the 200 IM by 2.33 seconds; Mo beat Spinella in the 200 freestyle by 0.79 seconds. That’s 3 out of 4 in Mo’s corner.

Predictions: Mo and Spinella go head-to-head in two solo events and Mo comes out on top in both. His performance in the solo events and relays helps Great Neck South to repeat. Spinella comes in a close second in both events he races Mo in, cementing his reputation as one of the top swimmers in the county.

- Can Great Neck South Repeat?

The Set-up: Great Neck South won the county championship last year after an undefeated regular season. The team has so far had another perfect regular season and won the Division A championship.

The Plot-lines: Long Beach was the team to beat as recently as two years ago. While Great Neck South has separated itself, Jericho, Long Beach and Bellmore Merrick have all been strong this year, and they’re gunning for GNS. As one coach told me before the season began, "They have a target on their back this year."

Things to Consider: Great Neck South has beaten Jericho, Long Beach and Bellmore Merrick this season in head-to-head combat. Granted, regular season success does not guarantee postseason greatness, but certainly you have to look at history. The Great Neck South team is young, but they have one of—if not THE—best public school swimmer on the Island in Sam Mo.

Predictions: Great Neck South repeats.

- Who Takes Second?

The Set-up: Great Neck South is a favorite to repeat, but Jericho, Long Beach and Bellmore Merrick have all had strong regular slates.

The Plot-lines: To repeat myself from a previous post: Jericho has tied Bellmore-Merrick and beat Long Beach; Long Beach lost to Jericho and beat Bellmore-Merrick; Bellmore-Merrick lost to Long Beach and tied Jericho.

Things to Consider: Could Cold Spring Harbor emerge as a dark horse candidate? CSH had a nice showing in the Division B championships, though Jericho is built not on stars, but on depth.

Predictions: Depth is the most important factor on a swim team and Jericho, the best depth team among the second tier teams, will take second place, semi-easily. They won’t be too close to Great Neck South, but in the early going they might look to have a shot at winning, kind of like Connetquot did against Ward Melville in the Suffolk Girls Championships this year.