Commack/Northport's Chloe Stepanek sets two records at Suffolk swimming championships
Northport's Chloe Stepanek touches the wall to seal the win in the 400-yard freestyle relay at Suffolk girls individual swimming championships/state qualifier. Credit: Bob Sorensen
Chloe Stepanek is heading back to states in style.
Almost a year after winning the state championship in two events, the Commack/Northport junior broke her own county records in both the 200-yard freestyle (1:47.64) and the 500-yard freestyle (4:53.97) at the Suffolk girls swimming championships on Saturday at Suffolk CCC-Brentwood.
It came as no surprise to her coach, Drew Modrov, who refers to her as the most committed and dedicated high school athlete he has ever seen.
But Stepanek didn’t expect a career day.
After taking on a tougher training regimen this season, she entered this meet on less rest than she had in years past. But the county championship is not a typical meet — with dozens of teams and coaches lining the pool’s perimeter, cheering and screaming along with the hundreds of fans packed into the bleachers — adrenaline tends to run high.
“My goal was to just see how close I could get to my best times,” Stepanek said. “But the team really does psych you up during these meets, and I think it helped us all swim faster.”
On the final event of the day, Stepanek rallied on the anchor leg of the 400-yard freestyle relay, jumping ahead of the heat to clock the winning time of 3:39.54 and earn 40 points for Northport. She teamed with Katie Dennin, Maya and Lola Foley and qualified for the state meet. The Tigers placed second in the team scoring, their highest finish in school history.
“All I knew was that I had to fly across the pool,” Stepanek said. “We just really wanted to win this relay.”
Ward Melville won the overall team championship with a score of 315.5. Commack/Northport was second with 247, and Sayville/Bayport-Blue Point took third with 212.
Ward Melville’s Sydney Boals (52.02) won the 100-yard freestyle, tied for first with Connetquot’s Camryn Kreuscher in the 50-yard freestyle and anchored the Patriots to wins in both the 200-yard medley relay and the 200-yard freestyle relay.
Port Jefferson’s Kyra Sommerstad won both the 200-yard IM (2:04.53) and the 100-yard backstroke (55.75), West Islip’s Jackie Triglia won the 100-yard butterfly, and Angelina Harris won the 100-yard breaststroke for Miller Place.
