Nassau vs. Suffolk: Syosset out in front at 3rd annual boys swimming Long Island Challenge
Benjamin Ahn of Syosset looses his goggles during the 100-yard butterfly at the Long Island Challenge meet between Nassau and Suffolk swimmers at the Farmingdale Aquatic Center on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
On Thursday night, 173 swimmers from 33 schools gathered in Farmingdale at one of the most unique boys swimming meets of the year. It was the third annual Long Island Challenge, the only regular season meet that pits Nassau and Suffolk athletes against one another.
Without an official Long Island championship, the challenge brings the best of the best swimmers together for the ultimate reward: bragging rights.
Pending the diving finals on Saturday, Syosset currently leads the competition by nearly 100 points with a score of 274. A win for Syosset would mark the third in a row; the team qualified more swimmers than any other school with 15.
“It’s really special to have all the best swimmers on Long Island together in one building to compete,” coach Mike Cipollino said. “It’s a really special night. There’s definitely a lot of Nassau pride when it comes to something like this.”
Smithtown-Hauppauge stands in second place with a score of 175. The team started off the evening with a win in the 200-yard medley relay, earning a time of 1:37.57. Chris Sweeney, who anchored the relay team, said the Long Island Challenge is some of the best competition he and his team see all season.
“It’s especially cool to swim against some of the guys that we know, but don’t see often,” Sweeney said. “Nassau has so many fast guys and it’s fun to swim against them at an event like this.”
Teammate Tyler Gallub added that his team can use a meet like this to better prepare for the postseason.
“It’s great to get this kind of competition early on because we can really see how we’re doing and how our training is going,” Gallub said. “We can start to plan the rest of our season and even prepare for states based on our performances here.”
The same team — made up of Sweeney, Gallub, Brennan Morelli and Noah Hutzler — currently holds the fastest time in the state in the 200-yard freestyle relay, clocking 1:26.30. They took first place in the same event later in the evening with a 1:27.32.
Herricks senior Matt Chang took the top spot in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle, earning times of 21.43 and 46.70, respectively. His team currently sits in third place with a score of 145.
“This is always a fun meet and it's a great way to start our season,” Chang said. “These guys are some of my really good friends so it’s really awesome to come here and swim against them. It’s really hard to get the whole Island in one place for a meet, so this is really special.”
Stu Plosky, a swimming official, helped organize the event three years ago. To him, good competition and good fun are what the unique meet is all about.
“This is the best thing to happen to boys swimming,” Plosky said. “These kids don’t have an opportunity to compete in a Long Island championship, so this is a step forward for them. They’re the best of the best.”
Tess Ferguson is a reporter on Newsday's high school sports staff. She joined the team after graduating with a journalism degree from Ithaca College in 2025.
