Sacred Heart's Lily Gormsen wins 500 yard freestyle in state Federation girls swimming championships
Lily Gormsen competes in the 500 yard freestyle at the state girls swimming championships at the Webster Aquatic Center in Webster on Nov. 18, 2023. Credit: ©2023 Kayla Bartkowski/Kayla Bartkowski
WEBSTER, N.Y. — Two days before the state Federation swim championship last season, Sacred Heart's Lily Gormsen broke her foot and couldn’t compete. So when she made it to the state championships this time around, she made sure she was ready to win.
“This time last year, I had to watch my teammates from home, so it feels really good to be apart of it now,” Gormsen said.
Gormsen placed first in the state Federation 500-yard freestyle with a time of four minutes and 47.72 seconds, fourth in the 200 free (1:50.43), and was a member of the runners-up 200 freestyle relay team and the sixth-place 400 free relay team.
“I feel very proud of myself," Gormsen said. “Especially for winning the 500 free, I knew it was going to be a really good race and that all the girls I was going up against were super fast.”
The runner-up in the 500 free was teammate Sarah Larsen, and Sacred Heart freshman Sadie Davidoff finished seventh.
“It was really cool for all of us to be on the podium together,” Gormsen said. “I’m really proud of all of them and I just feel really happy for my team.”
Her sister, Cavan Gormsen, holds the Federation record for the 200 free (1:45.12) and the 500 free (4:39.82). Lily says she uses that as motivation.
“It’s a running joke in my house that I’m going to beat all of her times,” she said.
Although she hasn’t done it yet, the junior has had a stellar season and still has one more before she graduates. Sacred Heart finished third in the Federation with 185 points.
Hauppauge-Smithtown’s 200 medley relay team made up of Julia Lucca, Sofia Burns, Sarah Lucca and Mary Grace Waring finished first in the Federation with an All-American consideration time of 1:44.71, defending the win from last season. They also finished fourth in the 400 freestyle relay with 3:33.24, earning them the second place in the Federation with 196, trailing Eastchester by 14 points.
“The medley relay has kind of been our thing, this is the second consecutive year we’ve won” Hauppauge-Smithtown coach Sean Montalvo said. “The girls are such hard workers and are so experienced in this meet so I’m extremely proud of them.”
Emily Herr, a senior from Shoreham-Wading River, placed third in the 200 IM with a personal best time of 2:02.81 and second in the 100 fly with 55.42, both All-American consideration times.
“I got my best time with the 200 IM so I’m very happy about that,” she said. “My fly, I added a bit of time from the county championship, but I still finished second so I’m proud of that.”
Abby Han, a senior from Carle Place-Locust Valley, finished third in both the 100 butterfly (55.55) and the 100 backstroke (55.83).
“I’m feeling really, really happy right now,” Han said. “I wasn’t expecting the 100 fly, I looked up to the board and I thought I came in fourth or fifth, so it felt surreal to actually be in third.”
Not only was she surprised with her placement, but she was surprised with her time. “When I saw the 55.55, I couldn’t believe it,” she said. “I beat my best time by .6.”
Although Han was not expecting that, her coach Rachel McSane said she wasn’t surprised by her performance at all. “She always knows exactly how to swim the race and she always rises to the occasion” McSane said. “I’m so beyond proud of her and I couldn’t be happier with everything she did today.”
