LAKEVILLE — Local swimmers made a splash, and plenty of noise, during a Jan. 19 swim meet between Middleboro High School and Apponequet Regional High School at George R. Austin Intermediate School’s pool.

The Middleboro boys’ swim team beat the Apponequet boys' team 80-56, while the girls’ teams tied 85-85.

In individual races, swimmers earn six points for first place, four points for second, three points for third, two points for fourth, and one point for fifth. In relay races where multiple swimmers team up, teams earn eight points for first place, four points for second, and two points for third.

The final race, the 400-yard freestyle relay, decided the race for the girls’ teams. 

“It was a great race and a great day,” said Middleboro Head Coach Sean Siciliano. “I really couldn’t ask for a better meet.”

Nearly all swimmers not participating in the final relay stood at the end of the pool to yell encouragement to their teammates. After a rough start, Apponequet’s final two swimmers clawed their way back to clinch the tie.

“I thought we were great,” Apponequet Girls’ Swim Head Coach Tracy Owen said. “Middleboro has a lot more numbers than we do, and the fact we tied them is spectacular for the girls.”

Apponequet’s Maddie Voci contributed to the 400-yard freestyle relay win with teammates Nora McClurkin, Amirtha Santhosh, and Kallie Fournier. Voci also won the 200-yard freestyle and the 500-yard freestyle.

The Middleboro girls’ team took first place in just one of 11 races, but positioned themselves well enough to finish with a score equal to Apponequet.

“We didn’t have a lot of first-places in this meet, but we had seconds, thirds, and fourths and that’s what kept us in the meet,” Siciliano said.

The race the Middleboro girls won was the 200-yard freestyle relay. The winning team consisted of Cristina Chane, Lillian Dwyer, Leah Fregeau, and Jamison Studley.

Luke Franey of the Middleboro boys’ team won two individual races—the 100-yard freestyle and the 200-yard freestyle—and he contributed to the team’s win in the 200-yard freestyle relay. The other members of the relay team were Braden Borromeo, Finley Kearns, and Gavin Fritz.

Individually, Fritz won the 50-yard freestyle and Kearns won the 100-yard backstroke.

Apponequet’s Eugene Jung won two individual races and two relays. He took the 100-yard breaststroke and the 100-yard butterfly on his own, and he won the 400-yard freestyle relay and the 200-yard freestyle relay.

Apponequet only swam “a handful of times” in the two weeks before this meet, according to Apponequet boys’ team head coach TJ Ashley. The pool at George R. Austin had technical issues which were fixed just before the meet.

Ashley said that Middleboro had hosted Apponequet for a practice session during the time without a pool.

“They did pretty darn good for the amount of time they were able to practice for,” Ashley said of his team.