Cheshire girls' swim coach Dan Mascolo (Register file photo)

The 2013 girls' swimming season kicks off today and while the Cheshire girls’ swim team lost some key swimmers from last season, including Jenna Cannata, Sara Barlok, Kenzie Keddy, Molly Condron and Taylor Deubel, coach Dan Mascolo is confident the Rams have a good shot to defend their Southern Connecticut Conference title.
The Rams used their talent and depth to win the 2012 SCC swim meet with 1,314 points and continue to have the talent and depth in 2013 despite the losses from last season.
Among the top returners are Lindsay Smalec (butterfly, individual medley), Laura Mongillo (backstroke, IM), Denise Costello (freestyles, breaststroke), Delaney Molnar (butterfly, freestyles), Taylor Plumley (distance freestyles) and Erin Mostoller (diving).
“We have a very deep team once again and we should be pretty strong in the odd stroke events this season,” Mascolo said. “We are looking to build on last year’s success in the SCC and are looking forward to a very competitive (CIAC) Class L meet this season.”
Among the newcomers expected to make an impact this season are freshmen Lily Kurtz (IM, breaststroke), Kristen Reid (freestyles), Emily Murphy (backstroke, freestyles) and Danielle Dietrich (butterfly, breaststroke).

The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference, which governs high school athletics, has announced changes in the high school swim and diving championship postseason, specifically with changes for the location and times for next season's high school diviing championships. The CIAC Class S and LL meets will be on Nov. 6 at Middletown High and Bulkeley High, respectively. The Class M and L meets will be Nov. 7 at Middletown and Bulkeley, respectively. For the meets at Middletown, warm-up will begin at 4 p.m. with competition starting at 5:30 p.m. At Bulkeley, warm-up begins at 3 p.m. with competition beginning at 4:30 p.m. There will now also be a coaches meeting 30 minutes before the start of the meet. The State Open diving championships will be November 15 at Middletown with warm-up beginning at 4 p.m. and competition at 5:30 p.m.