Fresh off a three-week stretch between meets and loaded with rigorous practices — make that exhausted following a tough stretch of in-pool workouts — members of Newtown High School’s boys’ swimming and diving team saw their hard work pay off in a 99-84 win over visiting Joel Barlow of Redding-Bethel on January 8.

Newtown kicked things off with a pool record performance in the first swim of the evening. The 200-yard medley relay team comprising Xavier Williams, Colby Delia, Michael Annesley, and Rick Irving set the new standard with a first-place time of 1:44.42.

The Nighthawks, without significant point-producer Mason Suba in the lineup, saw many swimmers, including those who are not usually the top finishers, step up to pick up key third, fourth, and fifth place results in certain races and help the 200 free relay claim first place.

“They out-raced the competition on Bethel-Barlow, which they needed to do. This was very much a team win where they came out and did the job,” Newtown Coach Adam Fielding said.

The 200 medley relay of Matt Irving, Colden Bobowick, Jack Wojtowski, and Trey Hazard was third in 2:06.87.

Annesley was runner-up in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:17.34, and Sean McCleary placed third in the event, clocking in at 2:24.93.

In the 50 free, Delia and Rick Irving sprinted to a one-two finish with times of 22.82 and 23.74.

Joe Moran won the diving competition with a score of 144.30.

[naviga:font color="#323232" face="Arial, sans-serif"]Read more about the meet in the January 11 print edition of The Bee.