By Michael Letendre

WEST HARTFORD – Participants from fifty programs took part of the 2022 CIAC Boys Swimming Open on March 19, including the excellent team from Bristol.

And the Bristol Coop did an incredible job – placing in the top-15 – and had more than a couple standouts in the pool.

Bristol ended the day in 14th place, notching 127 points which was 9.5 points better than Oxford (15th place, 117.5 points).

On an individual front, Bristol’s Mikel Palaj swam well over a couple different events.

In the 50-yard freestyle, Palaj won the race, finishing in 21.13 seconds to earn his squad 30 points.

Palaj then placed third in the 100-yard butterfly over another excellent display.

And Palaj wasn’t far off the winning mark as Greenwich’s Ryan Jee earned the win with a time of 49.29 seconds. 

Palaj’s third place time was clocked at 50.06 seconds as the senior had a very good showing in the pool from West Hartford.

Then in the 100-yard breaststroke, Bristol’s Nathan Stellmach placed fifth overall in 58.73 seconds.

Also for Bristol, the combination of Aiden Collins, Stellmach, Palaj, and Davis Kroll finished 12th in the 200-yard medley relay (1:40.26) while and in the 200-yard IM, Stellmach placed 22nd (2:01.02).

And in the 400-yard freestyle relay, the foursome of Palaj, Noah Taylor, Kroll, and Stellmach tagged the wall in 3:20.36 for 18th place.

Of course, Greenwich won the Open – collecting 611 points and easily topped runner-up Pomperaug (367 points).

In terms of CCC teams, Southington finished in 12th place (161 points), Glastonbury (13th, 135.5) was one spot behind and Bristol was also in the mix as well.

2022 CIAC Boys Swimming Open – March 19

from Cornerstone, West Hartford

Team Scores (Top-15): 1. Greenwich 611; 2. Pomperaug 367; 3. New Canaan 357; 4. Ridgefield 318.5; 5. Darien 272; 6. North Haven Coop 237; 7. Norwalk-McMahon 232; 8. Xavier 230; 9. Westhill-Stamford 198.5; 10. Fitch Coop 187; 11. Staples 167; 12. Southington 161; 13. Glastonbury 135.5; 14. Bristol Coop 127; 15. Oxford 117.5.

Individual Results

50 Yard Freestyle: 1. Mikel Palaj, Bristol Coop, 21.13; 2. Mike Kvashchuk, Norwalk-McMahon, 21.31; 2. John Frankowski, Westhill-Stamford, 21.31; 4. Hethon Foster, North Haven Coop, 21.50; 5. Christopher Villani, NW Catholic, 21.68; 6. Ian Lee, New Milford, 21.72.

100 Yard Butterfly: 1. Ryan Jee, Greenwich, 49.29; 2. Nate Oppenheim, Barlow-Bethel, 49.93; 3. Mikel Palaj, Bristol Coop, 50.06; 4. Kevin Domack, Oxford, 50.92; 5. Thomas Dupont, Darien, 51.26; 6. Ian Lee, New Milford, 51.33.

100 Yard Breaststroke: 1. Aiden Bucaria, Greenwich, 56.31; 2. Thomas Dupont, Darien, 56.60; 3. K.C. Green, Pomperaug, 57.17; 4. Michael Dilascia, Greenwich, 57.20; 5. Nathan Stellmach, Bristol Coop, 58.73; 6. Logan Keane, Pomperaug, 58.77.