The season got off to a great start for the Guilderville swim team and its new coach, Breanna Autrey.

The combined team of swimmers from Guilderland and Voorheesville high schools won its first meet of the season and had a number of athletes qualify for the sectional meet. But winning the first meet wasn’t easy and came down to the final event.
"It was an intense 400 freestyle relay," said senior captain Stephenie Bintz. "But I wasn’t really worried."
"We were up by two points," said Brittany Phillips, another of the team’s captains.
"We were winning," Bintz added. "But if they had won the relay, we would have lost the meet."

Guilderville teams took the top two spots in the relay to clinch the win.

Reynalyn Canchela, Stevie Church, Moriah Knight, and Katrina Nakao won the relay with a time of 4:08.80. The team of Alyssa Calomeni, Erin Dewey, Tara Dougherty, and Brittney Ginsburg finished second in 4:14.39.
"I was on the blocks," Calomeni said, "and Coach came up to me and said, ‘We need this one.’"

Calomeni is also a captain of the Guilderville team.
"Second was close," Bintz said. "I knew we had a strong relay, but I couldn’t watch."

Strong competitors

The Guilderville team got good performances throughout the whole meet.

Knight and Dougherty finished second and third respectively in the 200-meter freestyle. Knight swam 2:11.25 and Dougherty finished in 2:16.98.

Dewey, Bintz, and Church finished in the top three spots in the 200-meter individual medley. Dewey won the race in 2:21.95. Bintz swam in 2:28.25 and Church finished in 2:30.71.

Victoria Stuto won the 50-meter freestyle in 27.10 seconds.

Toni Marie Whitbeck and Erika Pesta finished second and fifth respectively in the diving competition. Whitbeck had 215.95 points and Pesta amassed 177.70 points.

Dewey won the 100-meter butterfly in 1:06.84. Ginsburg was second in 1:07 and Canchela was fourth in 1:12.33.

Ginsburg won the 500-meter freestyle in 5:50.35. Knight was second in 5:59.79.

Bintz won the 100-meter backstroke with a time of 1:04.94. Katrina Nakao was second in 1:07.82 and Anna Kaufman was fourth with a time of 1:16.10.

Phillips won the 100-meter breaststroke with a time of 1:17.06 and Church was third with a time of 1:19.71.

Those swimmers and divers had good enough times and points to qualify for the Section II meet that will be held in November at Rensselear Polytechnic Institute.
"We had 11 girls qualify for section," Bintz said. "It was a great first meet."

New coach

Autrey, has been a teacher at Guilderland High School for five years; she is taking on the program from Walt Lane who retired.

Autrey swam in college at the University of Massachusetts and has also been involved with club swimming and is a lifeguard at the YMCA.
"It’s exciting to get to know the girls," Autrey said. "We have a young group that is coming up that is fun to be around. We have done a lot of team bonding and the kids have gelled early. You don’t expect that."
"It’s great to have a coach at school," Bintz said. "It’s easier to talk to her and we can talk to her about different things."

Lane was not a teacher at Voorheesville or Guilderland.
"We all like her," Calomeni said.
"She has different ways of coaching," Bintz added.
"She’s like one of us," Phillips said. "It’s different having a girl coach than a guy."

Autrey has brought a sense of sportsmanship to the team.
"When we finished a race, we would shake hands," Calomeni said of respecting their opponents.

She has also brought a new training regimen to the team this year.
"We are working hard," Autrey said. "We are running on dry land and it’s paid off. I’m not super surprised. I knew what we can do. It’s a nice finish."

Autrey is getting help from Brenda Goodknight, who is working with the divers.
"She is the gymnastics coach at Guilderland," Autrey said. "She knows what’s going on."

Autrey said she is excited to see what the Guilderville team can accomplish this season.
"I’m looking forward to the season," she said. "We have quite a few new girls that have never been on a swim team before. They are really learning a lot."

The swimmers are equally ready to see what will happen this season.
"I’m excited for the rest of the season," Bintz said.
"It’s a lot of fun," Phillips added. "Most of us seniors are in our fifth year."