The Swimming Scene: Savit ups his scores, Steffanelli closing in
Half Hollow Hills sophomore Ryan Savit posted a personal-best score of 286.13 in diving against Deer Park/North Babylon on Monday, and then nearly tied it with a 283.12 against Ward Melville the next day. The scores are the best on the Island and top his previous Island-high by nearly 10 points.
But unlike earlier this year, when we could say without question that nobody could touch Savit, there is some competition creeping in.
Freshman Anthony Steffanelli won the diving competition for Sachem East with a score of 280.65 on Friday. His score came as part of a 99-82 win over Lindenhurst that officially ties Sachem East and Sachem North for second place in League I with a 5-2 record.
Steffanelli previously had a high-score of 257.4 on Jan. 21.
"He was just very consistent and his dives that have the high degree of difficulty he hit," coach Bill Kropp said. "One he got an 8.5 on. He just came out strong right away with two 7.5’s and then he just built momentum from there."
Because the Section 11 scores hadn't been updated yet, it appeared as if Steffanelli might have beaten out Savit, who had a previous high score of around 277. I asked if Anthony had said anything after his dives.
"He’s in ninth grade, and if he’s five foot tall he’s tall," Kropp started, laughing. "He’s a physical specimen because he was a gymnast, he made the Empire Games team in seventh grade…But he’s a very, very quiet and smart kid. He’s in AP classes. He’s a good boy, but he’s not much of a talker."
Was achieving a score that nearly toppled Savit something that either of them thought possible with Anthony at such a young age?
"We were looking like, hey what’s the future? As a ninth grader, you don’t expect it," Kropp said. "When he hit 257, we were like wow, maybe he could qualify for states this year. But we figured maybe it was a year away. Now it’s looking good. Not taking anything away from the Hills kid (Ryan Savit), because he’s just amazing in his own right. We’ll see what happens."
Hat tip to Corey McLaughlin for the highlight.

Things to do now on LI Rock climbing? Indoor beach volleyball? Water parks? Arts and crafts? NewsdayTV's Elisa DiStefano and Newsday deputy lifestyle editor Meghan Giannotta have your look at ways to spend your winter break.

Things to do now on LI Rock climbing? Indoor beach volleyball? Water parks? Arts and crafts? NewsdayTV's Elisa DiStefano and Newsday deputy lifestyle editor Meghan Giannotta have your look at ways to spend your winter break.