PLAINVILLE – Nine Newtown simmers between the ages of 8 and 14 helped the Western Regional YMCA Makos take second place at the 2001 Yankee Cluster Swim Championships February 23-25 at the Plainville YMCA.

Jimmy Gaston of Newtown (9-10 age group) won four different events and scored 48 points for the Makos. Gaston broke the 100-yard butterfly record (1:14.70), had a personal best in the 100-yard freestyle (1:06.10), performed great in the 50-yard butterfly (31.37) and swam anchor for the 200-yard freestyle relay team, which broke a 25-year-old record (2:01.39).

Matt Iassogna (8 and under) earned 39 points for the Makos, taking first in the 25-yard butterfly (17.57), third in the 50-yard freestyle (39.07) and fourth in the 25-yard freestyle (17.54).

Meanwhile, in the 11-12 age group, Sally Tabler scored 32 points for the girls and Kevin Cahalane scored 32 points for the boys – both swimming the freestyle and breaststroke. Tabler was third in the 50-yard freestyle (28.03), fourth in the 100-yard freestyle (1:03.30) and sixth in the 50-yard breaststroke (38.31). Cahalane was third in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:25.98), fifth in the 50-yard freestyle (27.80) and fifth in the 50-yard breaststroke (38.76).

The 200-yard freestyle relay teams that Cahalane and Tabler swam on also finished first (1:50.76) and third (2:04.13), respectively, thus earning another 56 points for the Makos.

Other high-scoring Newtown swimmers included:

+ Ryan Cahalane (9-10 boys) – 15 points with a fifth in the 50-yard butterfly (41.38), 10th in the 50-yard freestyle (34.87) and 11th in the 100-yard freestyle (1:22.31).

+ Stewart Tabler (9-10 boys) – 13 points with an eighth in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:38.97), eighth in the 50-yard breaststroke (45.12) and 10th in the 100-yard individual medley (1:38.79).

+ Chris Jacob (13-14 boys) – 12 points with a sixth in the 100-yard backstroke (1:27.46), a 10th in the 50-yard freestyle (29.67) and 12th in the 100-yard freestyle (1:11.01).

+ Jennifer Iassogna (11-12 girls) – 10 points with a seventh in the 200-yard freestyle (2:27.54), 10th in the 50-yard butterfly (34.43) and 14th in the 100-yard freestyle (1:08.52).

Other contributors included Andrew Kirner (9-10 boys – 13th in the 50-yard backstroke and 19th in the 50-yard freestyle) and Colin Jacob (8 and under boys – 17th in the 25-yard freestyle, 23rd in the 25-yard backstroke, and 29th in the 25-yard freestyle).

The Makos will now travel to compete in the New England Championships at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, from March 23 through March 25.