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Roberts, Wood, Relays earn 4 wins
By John Kaemmerlen
March 7, 2004 - The Fairport Red Raider swim team closed out its
season with an excellent performance at the state championship meet at the
Nassau County Aquatic Center on Long Island. Representing Fairport at this
meet were seniors Cyrus Salehi and Co-captain Matt McGraw, and juniors Jeff Kaemmerlen, Jon Roberts, and Jeff Wood.
Fairport showed its strength early with Wood, Roberts, McGraw, and Salehi
getting an easy win in the 200 yard medley relay in 1:35.34, narrowly
missing the state record Fairport set last year but achieving the second
fastest time ever swum in this event in the meet’s 43 year history. The time
earned automatic All-American status and is among the fastest in the nation
this year.
Wood placed 6th in the 200 yard freestyle in 1:44.08, an All-American
consideration time. Kaemmerlen’s 1:48.60 swim was good for 19th place.
Salehi swam the 50 freestyle in 22.41 seconds in the Friday preliminaries,
placing 22nd.
Roberts chose to compete in the 100 yard butterfly at this year’s meet to
challenge another of the state’s top swimmers, forgoing a likely win in the
200 yard IM. He placed second in an All-American time of 50.49 seconds,
beaten only by a state record time by Luke Weniger of Pittsford. Co-captain
McGraw placed 14th in the 100 yard freestyle in 49.05 seconds.
The most exciting race of the meet was the 200 yard freestyle relay.
Roberts, Wood, McGraw, and Salehi swam neck and neck with Pittsford’s
quartet in a rematch of the Sectional finals three weeks earlier. Fairport
won by 0.12 seconds, its time of 1:25.84 earning All-American status,
missing the state record Fairport set last year by 0.04 seconds, and
registering the 2nd fastest time ever in NY State in this event.
Three Red Raiders “made it back” to Saturday’s finals in the 100 backstroke.
Wood earned his first State high school title with a 51.38 second swim, an
automatic All-American time and 6th fastest in state history. This was a
remarkable performance given he missed the month of December with a
significant injury and really didn’t start swimming until January. McGraw
placed 7th in 54.41, and Kaemmerlen was 17th in 55.58 seconds.
Roberts swam Fairport’s final event in excellent fashion by earning his 3rd
consecutive State title in the 100 yard breaststroke. His 56.84 second time
narrowly missed the state record and was the 2nd fastest time ever swum in
this meet.
Last year’s Fairport team was the 9th best public high school team in the
country. This year’s fine performance will place them again among the best
in the nation.
Pertinent Links
2004 Team
2004 State Meet
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