Congratulations are in order for New Bedford sophomore swimmer Serenity Coleman, who took 1st place in the 50 yard freestyle event at the MIAA Division 1 State Championships, held Saturday, February 15 at Boston University. She becomes the first Whaler swimmer to win a state title since 2016, when Kyleigh Barao completed back-to-back state championships in the 100 butterfly.

In a thrillingly tight race, with the top seven finishers coming within one second of each other, Coleman bested Concord-Carlisle’s sophomore Elisabeth Reiling by one-hundredth of a second to take the title.

On Saturday (Feb. 8) at MIT in Boston, Durfee’s Rachael Silva and New Bedford’s Serenity Coleman emerged as South Sectional Champions. Silva took first place in the diving event (435.20), while Coleman grabbed the top spot in the 50 (24.63) and 100 (54.12) freestyle events.

Below is Silva’s title clinching last dive, a back 1-1/2 somersault with a 1/2 twist in the free position (5231D).

The New Bedford Swim & Dive team cruised to first place in the both the boys and girls divisions at the Big 3 Conference Championships held over two days at New Bedford High School.

Girls Team Score
1. New Bedford – 534
2. Durfee – 427
3. Brockton – 213

Boys Team Score
1. New Bedford – 544
2. Durfee – 343
3. Brockton – 116

Complete Results

The diving portion of the Big 3 Conference Swim & Dive Championships belonged to Durfee. The Hilltoppers swept the top three spots in both the girls and boys action. Complete results

Diving’s Top 3 finishers:

Girls
Rachael Silva – Durfee – 271.20
Madison Ferreira – Durfee – 216.70
Sarah Raposa – Durfee – 211.45

Boys
Seth Vandenburgh – Durfee – 217.60
Micah Ross – Durfee – 208.10
Logan Vandenburgh – Durfee – 200.40

Bridgewater-Raynham‘s standout swimmer Jessie McNeil was recently named an Academic All-American by the National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association.

The Association’s congratulations letter reads “Over 353,936 students are involved in aquatics at the high school level in over 17,454 programs for boys’ and girls’.  Approximately 2% of these students are recognized as high school All American’s.”

McNeil, who was the South Sectional champion in the 200-yard individual medley, also took second at States in the 200 IM and 100-yard breaststroke. She was also the Southeast Conference champion in the 200-yard individual medley and the 500-yard freestyle events.

The Durfee Swim & Dive teams dominated Bishop Stang at the UMass-Dartmouth Tripp Athletic Center. The Durfee girls posted a 100-67 victory, while the Hilltopper boys prevailed, 89-40.

With the win, the Lady Hilltoppers improved their record to 2-1 on the season. It was a complete team effort, with many athletes being able to try new events and allow the Topper squad to show off its depth.

Individual winners for Durfee included Rachael Silva in the 1-meter dive with a score of 225.65, Aimee Tiebout in the 500-meter freestyle, Zoie Mussotte in the 100-meter backstroke, and Claire Bjerre in the 100-meter breaststroke. Mussotte and Tiebout teamed up with Avery Antunes and Gill Tiburtino in the 200-meter medley relay to take first in that event. Other strong performers for Durfee were Paitynn Botelho, Casey Carvalho and Abigail Carrerio. 

The Durfee boys also came home with a win to improve to 2-0 on the season. The Hilltoppers showed off the hard work they have been doing this season going into the holiday break. Individual winners included Cooper Long in the 50 and 100-meter freestyle, Michael Harrington in the 500-meter freestyle, Jack Fitzgerald in the 100-meter backstroke and Forrest Malo in the 100-meter breaststroke. The relay team of Harrington, Fitzgerald, Long and Omar Mahmoud took home the win in both the 200-meter medley and 200-meter freestyle.