Savit, Half Hollow Hills making mark on swimming

Ryan Savit hung suspended in the air, his body craning and twisting against the force of gravity and, momentarily, winning the struggle.

Tucked in a tight somersault, Savit suddenly uncoiled, extending so that his frame ran perpendicular to the diving board. The top divers tend to leave little room between their extremities and the board, whether by design or fearlessness. And make no mistake, Savit is the top diver on Long Island. But this time, he miscalculated.

As Savit's foot banged against the edge of the board, the crowd gasped. This was just warm-ups, not even a competitive portion of the meet. Necks craned from the bleachers in the Suffolk CC-Brentwood pool waiting for the verdict.

Savit emerged from the water laughing, his ego more bruised than his foot. The crowd exhaled, the meet went on and Half Hollow Hills won - Savit performing nearly flawless dives during his event - defeating Smithtown, 95-88. All was right with the world.

Hills has been winning for three years now, and shows no signs of letting up. In that span, Hills is undefeated in dual meets, league championships and county championships.

The team currently has four top county times. Savit is first in diving with a 277.73 (the top diver in Nassau has a score of 220.45), the team is tops in the 200-yard medley relay and Jesse Lohrer is tops in the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke. The county leader board, which has 120 total slots spanning each of the sport's 12 events, is a quarter filled with entrants just from Half Hollow Hills.

Presiding over the winning is Jason Weidersum, who began coaching the team seven years ago. "The first year I started, we went 1-and-7, so that was a long year," Weidersum said. The seasons have since shortened.

"We just gradually got better and better," he said, noting that the rise in swimmers who were also members of club teams directly correlated with the team's ascent. "That's the biggest thing. The first year we started, we didn't have any club guys. Now we have 16 or 17.

"I've known from the beginning of the year that we're a very strong team. We've got guys who could potentially win every single event, every single stroke. I think the thing that makes us special is that we're also deep. We've got the sprinters, the distance guys, the specialty stroke guys. And we've got one of, if not the, top diver in the county."

Savit was the second-best diver in Suffolk last season. But his main competition graduated, leaving the top spot for the taking. "I just wanted to keep improving my records from last year, and I've done that consistently," Savit said.

Just a sophomore, has he felt the pressure of expectations at times? "Yeah, our whole team has a lot of pressure since we've been undefeated. But I think we've handled it pretty well."

The handling is thanks in large part to upperclassmen such as junior standout Matt DeBlasio. A member of the team since seventh grade, he's one of the few at Hills who knows what it's like to lose.

"Some of the younger guys, they like to get a little cocky. They like to think, 'oh we're going to win this meet.' But it's not all about winning," he said. "We're very big on sportsmanship, and when the younger kids get cocky . . . we tell them where we came from."

But don't confuse humility with lack of a killer instinct.

"We never take the foot off the gas," said DeBlasio, who practices four hours each day with only a 15-minute break in the middle.

Right now, the team is twisting against the forces that would like to bring them back down to Earth, such as other teams, graduating talent, luck. But for now, momentarily, they've been winning the struggle.