New Accomplishments for the Lady Dalers Legacy

The spectacular new aquatic center at Howitt certainly sets the stage for a champion. It’s a perfectly improved and enhanced facility – a setting worthy of any athlete who is hungry for a victory. The district hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony on September 22, 2022, releasing the new addition to the community. The broad, magnificent addition to the district accommodates two pools; one is a community pool, allowing residents to participate in free swimming and lessons, and the other pool exists as a 340,000-gallon Olympic-sized pool. It serves as the ultimate playing ground for the 2022 Conference champions: The Lady Dalers Varsity Swim Team.

The team itself is composed of 37 energetic young athletes. Like all magical teams in sports, it’s the winning combination of talent and skill, of dedication and diligence, that yields a phenomenal, boast-worthy season. This year, the Lady Dalers head coach, Ken Ilchuk, made the knowledgeable decision to “pull up” some young expertise. “Teams that win dual meet titles do so with depth. In a six lane meet, a combination of 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place beats 1st place. The group of young girls we brought up gave us the depth to compete at the highest level,” explained Ilchuk. Older returning swimmers on the team acted as mentors to the younger girls. Together they participate in a variety of activities in order to strengthen the bond between the girls.

During this extraordinary season, the determined team achieved many new accomplishments for the Lady Dalers legacy. On November 4th, 2022 the Lady Dalers attended county prelims at Eisenhower park where Brooke Andros, Izabella Cimino, Anna Carle, and Annika Hogger proved their persistence to the program by smashing the 200 Yard Medley record of 1:55.7 with a time of 1:53.73. Anna Carle also went on to win all divisions, an astonishing achievement for a student who is not yet in high school. Another young swimmer, Avery Schumacher, who has only just begun her second year at Howitt Middle School, finished 5th in the county overall, and received the Lester Schloen Junior Memorial Reward, which is given to the top first year diver in Nassau county.
Seniors Izabella Cimino, Nicole Kelly, Grace Decker, Michaela Scanlan, Gabriella Cullen, Fiona Andrew, Riley Spucces, Victoria Corradina, and Shannon Kane, all attended their last meet as members of the Lady Dalers Varsity Swim team at county finals on November 5th, 2022. It was here that the girls proved their senior year would be their best, and the team finished second overall in the division, the highest the team has placed since 2014. It is without a doubt that the Lady Dalers incredible 2022 season will be remembered throughout the community, but it is only the beginning for the future Farmingdale aquatics.