Marblehead High swimming & diving coach Sue Guertin has been coaching the team for 35 years. It all started in 1989, and since then she has enjoyed unprecedented success, including this year, where they just wrapped up their 18th Northeastern Conference title since 2006. Only the COVID year in 2020, where no scores were kept, interrupted that streak. They also won in 1992, and five more times in the early stages of the new millennium. Altogether, since Guertin started coaching the team, they have won the conference 24 times. Plus, don’t forget, the program has won three state championships under her guidance, including the last two in 2016 and 2023 by the respective girls teams during those campaigns.
The Magicians recently ended the regular season with a 6-0 record, and that success continued late last month with more success in the annual NEC meet.
On Jan. 22, the Magicians defeated Swampscott on Senior Night, 94-78. Before recording the win, seniors Nico Altonian, captain Finn Bergquist, Olivia Bloodgood, captain Brinleigh Callahan, captain Logan Doody, Maxine Hall, Ezra Reid, captain Nate Rosen, Quinn Sullivan and diving captain Yuri Volkov were all honored with flowers to go along with their own individual banners that bedecked the Lynch/vanOtterloo YMCA walls, which represented tributes to them after competing ever so well the last four years in the program.
Once the Swampscott meet began, it was business as usual that resulted in another win in their undefeated season. They then went on to beat visiting Danvers the very next day, 103-75.
There was no rest for the weary, because the NEC Meet followed on Jan. 23, when the divers kicked things off at the Peabody YMCA. Volkov (fourth), Elizabeth Hayes (fifth), Maxine Hall (eighth), Hailey Gilmore (seventh) and Callie Gilmore (ninth) all had top 10 finishes. The swimmers finished up the conference championship meet the next day at the Beverly YMCA.
The top 16 NEC Meet finishers in each event factored into the team scoring. The Marblehead girls collected 555 points, while the boys had 583 for a combined total of 1,138, which validated their perfect regular season. Their 1,138 points easily outdistanced second place Masco. The Chieftains ended up with 775, followed by Danvers (601), Peabody (559), Gloucester (496), Swampscott (455) and Salem (222).
In the girls 200-yard medley relay, Grace Ladouceur, Shaelyn Callahan, Berguquist and Callahan (1:59.63) finished first. Rowan Sullivan, Monica Pechhold, Maddy Auerbach and Abby Moore (2:09.33) came in fourth.
Brinleigh Callahan (2:12.06) was credited with a fourth-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle, followed by Abby Moore (2:13.61) fifth and Ari Jiminez-Tarasiuk (2:41.13) 13th. Ladouceur (2:18.87) accounted for second in the 200-yard IM. Rowan Sullivan (2:42.12) chipped in with seventh place finish, and Zoe Stachera (2:55.52) was 14th.
Auerbach (29.34) was third in the 50-yard freestyle. Olivia Bloodgood (32.69) had a seventh-place finish, while Meredith Kreevoy (33.55) was close behind in 10th.
Bergquist (1:01.80) and Auerbach (1:08.66) were credited with second and third place finishes in the 100-yard butterfly. Stachera (1:29.26) recorded a 12th place finish.
Ladouceur (57.40) and Moore (1:00.60) topped the ticket in the 100-yard freestyle. Elizabeth Hayes (1:11.21) came in sixth. Shaelyn Callahan (5:46.65) and Brinleigh Callahan (5:4693) were the top two finishers in the 500-yard freestyle. Monica Pechhold (6:19.94) was fifth.
Hayes, Pechhold, Auerbach and Moore (1:57.85) went to the head of the class in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Ari Tarasiuk, Bloodgood, Stachera and Meredith Kreevoy came in fourth.
Bergquist (1:03.19) was no. 1 in the 100-yard backstroke. Kreevoy (1:25.76) recorded a 12th place finish. Shaelyn Callahan (1:17.05) and Pechhold (1:20.98) were the leaders in the 100-yard breaststroke. Sullivan (1:25.56) finished sixth.
In the 400-yard freestyle relay, Bergquist, Brinleigh Callahan, Shaelyn Callahan and Ladouceur (4:01.65) were the top quartet. Hayes, Sullivan, Kreevoy and Stachera (4:49.14) teamed up for an eighth-place finish.
The boys’ meet started off with the 200-yard medley relay, and the team of Ian Chemel, Cale Nelson, Brady Leveroni and Doody (1:46.47) touched the end of the pool first. Omar Elnabarawy, Orion Lewis, Volkov and Quinn Sullivan (1:54.58) were able to pick up second place points.
Nate Rosen (1:54.98) came through with a first-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle. Ian Chemel (1:57.42) was third, and Phillip Gaber (2:23.10) seventh. Nelson (2:05.61) and Leveroni (2:10.28) were credited with second and third place finishes in the 200-yard IM. Paxton Swanson (2:39.43) came in sixth, and Leo DiCostanzo (3:02.68) 11th.
Doody (222.69) bested the entire 50-yard freestyle field. Sullivan (27.19) came in ninth, Reid (27.76) 12th. Leveroni (57.57), Lewis (59.45) and Volkov (1:04.48) swept the 100-yard butterfly.
Doody (50.35) and Elnabarawy (52.22) topped the ticket in the 100-yard freestyle. Gaber (1:02.12) was eighth. Nate Rosen (5:19.56) led the way in the 500-yard freestyle with a second-place finish. Reid (6L27.03), Lucas Rosen (6:31.77) and Swanson (6:36.38) were credited with sixth, seventh and eighth place finishes.
Chemel, Lewis, Elnabarawy and Nate Rosen (1:35.64) led the pack in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Reid, Gaber, Lucas Rosen and Volkov (1:50.68) teamed up to finish seventh.
Nelson (56.27), Chemel (58.79) and Elnabarawy (1:00.14) swept the 100-yard backstroke. DiCostanzo (1:19.22) rounded out the top 10 in 10th place.
Lewis (1:10.94) came through with a second-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke. Lucas Rosen (1:17.01, seventh), Sullivan (1:22.08, ninth) and Henry Reid (1:43.35, 15th) also competed in the event.
Nate Rosen, Nelson, Leveroni and Doody (3:30.25) were second to none in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Gaber, Reid, Lucas Rosen and Sullivan (4:15.86) came in fifth.
The teams are now getting ready to compete in the North sectional (Feb. 8, 9) and state championship meets (Feb. 15, 16), as they strive to bring home titles, this time on the statewide level.
