• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Inside Press

Magazines serving the communities of Northern Westchester

  • Home
  • Advertise
    • Advertise in One or All of our Magazines
    • Advertising Payment Form
  • Digital Subscription
    • Subscribe
    • Subscriber Login
  • Print Subscription
  • Contact Us

Greeley Boys Swim and Dive Team

Two Time Champs Greeley Boys Swim & Dive Team Aim to Win a Third & Unprecedented State Championship Title

August 18, 2023 by Stacey Pfeffer

Greeley Swim & Dive Team Champs. Photo by Christina Schoonmaker

A leisurely swim is one of summer’s greatest pleasures enjoyed by many but for Horace Greeley’s Boys Swim and Dive Team, summer is the time for tough workouts in the pool to prep for next season. They are hoping to clinch the State Championship Title for a third year in a row.

This past spring, the 35-member team won that title at Ithaca College for a second year in a row, and were the first team in Greeley’s history to win back-to-back state titles. The boys practice year-round, including the summer, and swim for approximately 15 hours weekly plus two land workouts weekly consisting of strength training workouts and stretching. It is a grueling schedule with some students waking up prior to 5 a.m. for morning practice, but many of these students have been swimming since they were in elementary school and are truly dedicated to the sport.

The team is hoping for a three-peat this year despite graduating six talented swimmers. Swim coach Meg Kaplan notes that the “rising junior class is filled with state level swimmers who have two to three years of state swimming under their belt. They are determined to direct the team to win another championship one at a time – league, conference, sectional, New York State and Federation. It is a goal that has not been accomplished by any other team in NY state history.”

Harriet Engel, mother of senior swimmers Eric and Oliver, explains that the Greeley swim team or what many refer to as “G-swim” is run differently than a team sport. The boys swim under the Greeley banner but many practice under the tutelage of Zac Hojnacki, the Head Coach of the Marlins, a swim club based out of the Mount Kisco-based Boys and Girls Club of Northern Westchester.

Engels’ boys began swimming at age seven for the Willowbrook swim team and eventually landed at the Boys and Girls Club with the Marlins. Of the ten boys who qualified for States this past spring, nine swim with the Marlins and one for the Larchmont-based Badgers. “The G-swim legacy is due in large part to the Marlins’ success,” explains Engel.

“During COVID it became abundantly clear the boys need the G-swim team. They love the high school team.  It is a lot of fun for these boys and they bond as a group. You can see the smile on their faces on the deck. Swimming is a solitary sport. When they swim for their club, they are swimming for themselves but when they swim for G-swim they are swimming for team glory,” Engel says.

Hojnacki believes the team’s success is due to their values as a group. “They have a great culture and are passionate about the team. They embrace each individual’s success which propels them as a group,” he notes. Hojnacki who has been with the Marlins for the past five years has noticed that the G-swim team has progressively taken the sport of swimming more seriously and really bought into a culture of training excellence not just for the Marlins but also for their performance on G-swim. He works with several swimmers from various high schools throughout Westchester and has been impressed by the Greeley boys and offers a recent anecdote. “This morning after practice we were pulling lane lines which is basically grunt work. A few years ago maybe only a few kids would willingly do this. Now we have 20 or 30 kids helping each other and they treat one another with respect. The camaraderie, sportsmanship and teamwork play a role in their success and has them performing at a higher level.”

Meeting Goals & Striking a Balance

Hojnacki is also grateful for the ongoing dialogue that he has with Kaplan and the Greeley team. “We have the same goals, and it is about finding a balance between the G-swim and the club’s practice schedules, meets etc.,” says Hojnacki who is currently training some of the Greeley swimmers for nationals and even Olympic trials.

Hudson Chung, a former captain who just graduated Greeley will swim for the University of Chicago this fall. He believes the combination of coaches is crucial to their success. “Coach Meg who does the line-ups helps us achieve a win on every level from sectionals to divisionals to states while Coach Zac is amazing and helps push us to our limits,” he says.

So will the G-swim team be able to have a three-peat this year? Kaplan and Hojnacki both think it is possible to accomplish. “They need to remain focused, train to their maximum ability and stay off the injury list. It’s the character and trust in their brotherhood and drive and determination that fuels the swim team forward,” Kaplan adds.

These swimmers train seven days a week from before the sun rises to after the sun sets. Despite the fact that Greeley does not have a pool. “Where there is a will, there is a way. Come watch a meet at SUNY Purchase. We will for sure not disappoint,” she sums up.

Filed Under: Cover Stories Tagged With: Boys and Girls Club of Northern Westchester, Greeley Boys Swim and Dive Team, Greeley Swim Team, Horace Greeley High School, New York State Championship, Swimming Competition

Greeley Boys Swim & Dive Team Wins State Championship Title Second Year in a Row

March 24, 2023 by Inside Press

Chappaqua, NY – On March 4, 2023, Horace Greeley High School’s Boys Swim & Dive Team earned the State Championship title at the 61st annual NYS Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) Boys Swimming & Diving Championships held at Ithaca College. This is the second year in a row that the team has won the title. They are the first sports team in Greeley’s history to win back to back state titles. With a final score of 247 points, Greeley won the meet by 50 points over the second-place competitor.

Greeley also won the divisional and sectional titles for 2023. NYSPHSAA is made up of public high schools divided into 11 sections, as well as the NYS Catholic High School Athletic Association, and the NYC Public School Athletic League. Greeley competed as part of Section 1, comprised of teams from Dutchess, Putnam, Rockland, and Westchester counties. In total, 433 athletes from teams throughout NY State competed at the meet.

Four Seniors and six Juniors of the 35-member Horace Greeley Swim & Dive team represented the team at the two-day championship meet by achieving qualifying time standards throughout its regular season of eight dual meets, divisionals, and sectionals. All ten members of the team qualified for finals in the meet. This was a true team effort, with all team members contributing points to the final score.

The 400 free relay team (Hudson Chung, Erik Nadecki, Oliver Engel, and Connor McHugh) swam a 3:05.53 and came in 1st place, achieving a school, section, and state record and qualified for automatic All American status (top 100 times for the year). In addition, the team’s 200 medley relay (O. Engel, Nadecki, Jack Moran, and Trey Schlomann) came in 4th, and the 200 free relay (Lawrence Gulotta, Jamie Lynch, Schlomann, and McHugh) came in 8th.

Other top 20 finishers include:

Hudson Chung: 12th in the 200 free and 19th in the 100 fly

Jack Cornish: 9th in the 500 free

Eric Engel: 18th in the 200 free

Oliver Engel: 13th in the 200 IM and 7th in the 100 back

Connor McHugh:
7th in the 50 free and 6th in the 100 free

Erik Nadecki: 3rd in the 200 IM and 2nd in the 100 breast (All American consideration in both events)

In addition, McHugh was honored for Sportsmanship for Section 1, Chung and Lynch were named as Scholar Athletes, and Chung and Moran were elected as Captains for the Section 1 team.

To learn more about Greeley Sports Boosters, visit https://greeleysportsboosters.org/. To learn more about NYSPHSAA, visit https://nysphsaa.org/sports/mswim.

News courtesy of Greeley Sports Boosters. To learn more about Section 1 Swimming, visit http://www.section1swim.com/

Filed Under: Happenings, New Castle News Tagged With: Greeley Boys Swim and Dive Team, Greeley Sports Boosters

Primary Sidebar

Please Visit

William Raveis – Armonk
William Raveis – Chappaqua
White Plains Hospital
Houlihan Lawrence – Armonk
Houlihan Lawrence – Briarcliff
Houlihan Lawrence – Chappaqua
NYOMIS – Dr. Andrew Horowitz
Raveis: Lisa Koh and Allison Coviello
Purple Plains
Compass: Miller-Goldenberg Team
Korth & Shannahan
Douglas Elliman: Chappaqua
Compass: Aurora Banaszek
Roamfurther Athletics
Kevin Roberts Painting & Design
Elliman: Pam Akin
David Visconti Painting & Contracting
Pinksky Studio
Houlihan: Kile Boga-Ibric
Temple Beth El

Follow our Social Media

The Inside Press

Our Latest Issues

For a full reading of our current edition, or to obtain a copy or subscription, please contact us.

Inside Armonk Inside Chappaqua and Millwood Inside Pleasantville and Briarcliff Manor

Join Our Mailing List


Search Inside Press

Links

  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Digital Subscription
  • Print Subscription

Publisher’s Note Regarding Our Valued Sponsors

Inside Press is not responsible for and does not necessarily endorse or not endorse any advertisers, products or resources referenced in either sponsor-driven stories or in advertisements appearing in this publication. The Inside Press shall not be liable to any party as a result of any information, services or resources made available through this publication.The Inside Press is published in good faith and cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies in advertising or sponsor driven stories that appear in this publication. The views of advertisers and contributors are not necessarily those of the publisher’s.

Opinions and information presented in all Inside Press articles, such as in the arena of health and medicine, strictly reflect the experiences, expertise and/or views of those interviewed, and are not necessarily recommended or endorsed by the Inside Press. Please consult your own doctor for diagnosis and/or treatment.

Footer

Support The Inside Press

Advertising

Print Subscription

Digital Subscription

Categories

Archives

Subscribe

Did you know you can subscribe anytime to our print editions?

Voluntary subscriptions are most welcome, if you've moved outside the area, or a subscription is a great present idea for an elderly parent, for a neighbor who is moving or for your graduating high school student or any college student who may enjoy keeping up with hometown stories.

Subscribe Today

Copyright © 2025 The Inside Press, Inc. · Log in