Guilderville has new record board — 'huge' and 'awesome'

The Enterprise — Michael Koff

Deep concentration: Guilderville diver Lindsay Griffith prepares herself to do a backward somersault off the diving board against three divers from Bethlehem on Wednesday afternoon at Bethlehem High School. Griffith won with a total score of 151.05 points.

VOORHEESVILLE — After a year of fund-raising, the girls’ Guilderville swim team purchased and installed a new record board for the school’s pool, ushering in a new era of records and accomplishments.

The team will hold a dedication of the record board after its first home meet on Sept. 9, at around 6 p.m.

The board now includes the names of current swimmers who broke school and pool records.

“The old records were taped up with paper,” said booster club president Chris Webber.

Her daughter, Sarah Webber, 17, is now a senior and a co-captain of the team, along with Meghan Sweeney.

Sarah Webber holds the school record for the 100-yard breaststroke, Chris Webber said. She was also a member of two relay teams that broke records:

— The 200-yard medley relay team, made up of Caroline Conforti, Jenna VanDervort, Kelly Gao, and Sarah Webber, broke one school record; and

— The freestyle relay team, made up of Olivia Biggé, Belen Marriaga, Conforti, and Webber, broke a second record.

For the girls, replacing the old record board was a big deal.

“The exact size of the new record board is 20 feet by 10 feet,” Chris Webber said. “It’s huge. It is awesome!”

The board cost $3,660, and was paid for with funds from local sponsors, corporate sponsors, and fund-raising by the girls, she said.

Karin Callahan did research to find the board, Webber said; Callahan’s daughter, Erin, swims on the team.

The Guilderville girls’ swim team, coached by John Urbanski, has 26 members; 23 are swimmers, and three are divers, according to Webber. The team has swimmers from both Voorheesville and Guilderland since Guilderland has no pool of its own.

“Most of these girls are swimming year-round,” Webber said. After the girls’ fall swim season ends at school, the swimmers move on to regional club teams, like the Albany Starfish or the Delmar Dolphins, she said.

In order to raise money for the Guilderville record board, the girls’ swim team held a carwash and a hot-dog sale at Stuyvesant Plaza.

One of last year’s graduating seniors, Alex Cunningham, worked with Voorheesville’s Key Club to secure a donation as a parting gift to her teammates, Webber said.

The girls received money from the Voorheesville The Voorheesville Community and School Foundation, Hannaford, Smitty’s Pizza, and both the Voorheesville and the Guilderland school districts, Webber said.

The girls’ swim team organized the purchase and installation of the board, Webber said, but the board holds all the pool and school records for both the boys’ and the girls’ teams. Girls swim in the fall, while boys swim in the winter.

The booster club will take care of future maintenance costs, like ordering name strips, Webber said.

The board was installed on Aug. 21, and the girls’ team put up the records soon after.

“The girls who hold records got to put their records up,” Webber said. “It was cool.”

Sarah Webber invited the community to see the new record board.

“They can come see it at a meet,” she said.


Updated on Sept 11, 2015: The original story omitted The Voorheesville Community and School Foundation from the list of dnors; the foundation donated $1,000.

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