Coppes Wins 50 and 100 Freestyles for Old Saybrook at Class S State Championship
Old Saybrook senior Mac Coppes swam to first place in both the 50 freestyle and the 100 freestyle last week’s Class S State Championship, which was held at Wesleyan University on March 16.
Competing as a team-of-one, Coppes started the state meet by recording a time of 21.99 seconds to win the 50-yard freestyle, edging out Brookfield’s Nicholas Merkle, who swam a 22.09. Coppes was the top seed in the event after previously posting a time of 22.34 at the Class S Trials at Plainville High on March 11.
Then in the 100 freestyle, Coppes came in as the No. 2 seed delivered a mark of 49.43 to squeak past top-seeded Chris Fryer of Holy Cross (49.46) by three-hundredths of a second. Coppes also improved upon his time of 50.27 from the trials. Coppes scored 30 points with each of his victories to total 60 points that put Old Saybrook in 18th place among 32 teams at the Class S meet.
Two days later, Coppes competed in both events at the State Open Championship at Yale University’s Kiputh Pool. Coppes finished 19th in the 50 freestyle behind a time of 22.40 and he was also 19th for the 100 free by clocking in at 49.66. Coppes scored 12 points as the Rams placed 40th out of 49 clubs at the State Open.
—Chris Piccirillo