Smithtown-Hauppauge boys swim to Suffolk title

The Smithtown-Hauppauge swimmers and divers lined up by the side of the  pool inside the aquatic center at Stony Brook Saturday, ready for the announcement that they won the meet. It came, and then this deep talent pool of athletes jumped into the water along with two coaches who were in their street clothes.

Was that fun?

“It’s always fun,” coach Ray Willie said, standing on the pool deck dripping wet.

Westhampton’s Max Buchen was named the Most Outstanding Competitor from the Suffolk boys swimming and diving championships after winning two events, one in automatic All-American time. But Willie and co-coach Rich Lionetti had the most outstanding team — again.

It pulled off a repeat, totaling 366 points, 98 more than runner-up Connetquot-East Islip.

“This was a rougher year than last year because we lost a key player (John Holler), but these guys stepped up to the plate,” Willie said. “Connetquot was coming at us all season, but today they swam their hearts out.”

Dylan Gallub stood out in their crowd.

The Smithtown East senior won the 50-yard freestyle in a personal-best 21.04 seconds, finished second in the 100 free, anchored the first-place 200 medley relay and led off for the winning 200 free relay.

His brother, Tyler Gallub, Christopher Sweeney and Alex Trzaskowski followed him, and the foursome teamed for a time of 1:25.13, a Section XI record and a clocking worthy of All-American consideration.

“I’ve been putting in a lot of work recently, and I really had no idea how fast I’d be,” Dylan Gallub said. “But I just knew I had to go out there and race. So I’m happy it paid off.”

Buchen’s hard work paid off with a victory in the 200 IM in 1:52.31 and another win in his best event. The Navy-bound senior touched first in the 100 breaststroke in 54.26, safely under the automatic All-American qualifying time of 55.65.

“It’s great,” Buchen said. “It was my goal coming into the meet. My best time before this was a 55.5. I wanted to drop just a little bit to get the auto All-American.”

After placing fourth in the state last year in this event, Buchen will aim higher when he returns to Ithaca College for the state meet March 1-2.

“I think I have a good chance of taking the win in the [100] breast,” he said.

Trevor Green won the 100 backstroke in 50.74 after swimming 4:39.05 to place first in the 500 free. The Rocky Point sophomore was the state runner-up in that event in 2023.

“I’ve definitely been thinking about it,” Green said about winning a state title. “Last year, I had great competition with Pierre (Leroy, the state winner from Huntington-Harborfields), and he graduated. So hopefully that will open up an opportunity to win this year.”

Connetquot-East Islip’s Tristan Weingarten won the 100 butterfly in 50.89 and was on the winning 400 free relay.

Vincent Vinciguerra came in second in the 50 free, then won the 100 free in 46.46. 

“The time to me didn’t matter as much,” the Ward Melville senior said. “It was just about finishing first for me. I was very happy with it.”