Chatham boys beat Tenafly, defend NJSIAA Public B swim title
SEWELL – Charlie Kulp has known Aaron Baltytis most of his life. They met at USA Swimming Zones, when Baltytis was 10 and Kulp a year younger.
There was a little personal pride at stake in addition to the NJSIAA Public B swimming title on Sunday morning.
Though Baltytis won all four events in which he swam, Chatham came away with the championship, 88-82. The Cougars defended their state title and wrapped up a second undefeated season.
Though this was Chatham's closest meet in two years, the depth came through. Knowing the Tigers' A-lane swimmers gave the Cougars the ability to plan around them.
At least, that's what Chatham's coaches and swimmers hoped on the long, Sunday morning bus ride to Gloucester County Institute of Technology.
"They had a couple guys who were too fast to beat, so we needed to score points where we could," Kulp said. "We have really great depth. ... It was a big deal."
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The Cougars used their own A-lane – and quite a few career-best times – to make up the difference. Kulp won the 100 and 200 free, going 1-2 with junior teammate Simon Stryzsak in the longer race. Chatham junior Jack Bigham won a touch-out with Tenafly senior Hayoung Choe by 21 hundredths of a second in the individual medley.
"There's a lot of anticipation," Bigham said. "But at the same time, it's not up to them. We had to swim fast."
Ryan Snarr, Ryan O'Day and Tirian Chang took second, third and fourth behind Baltaytis in the butterfly. The Tenafly senior was also first in the 50 free, swam butterfly on the winning medley relay and anchored the 400 free relay that wrapped up the meet – watching Kulp on every flip turn.
Tigers sophomore Roy Dafinoiu and freshman Kyle Lee went 1-2 in the 500 freestyle. Choe was first in backstroke, and Tenafly senior Jason Yi took the breaststroke in 57.25 seconds. Bigham broke the Chatham school record while finishing second in 57.92, a mark set by Michael Strand which had stood since 2010.
The Tenafly seniors will graduate with an all-time, dual-meet record of 40-4.
"This was probably the most fun I've ever had in a dual meet. It's electric," said Baltaytis, who signed a National Letter of Intent with Northwestern.
"We would've loved to come out on top, but it was really fun."
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Chatham 88, Tenafly 82
Medley relay: Tenafly (Hayoung Choe, Jason Yi, Aaron Baltytis, Andrew Lee) 1:33.79; 200 freestyle: Charlie Kulp (C) 1:46.7; 200 individual medley: Jack Bigham (C) 1:57.25; 50 freestyle: Baltaytis (T) 20.61; 100 butterfly: Baltaytis (T) 49.45; 100 freestyle: Kulp (C) 47.08; 500 freestyle: Roy Dafiroiu (T) 4:53.69; 200 free relay: Chatham (Atticus Chang, J. Bigham, Erik Hoie, Chip Powers) 1:31.39; 100 backstroke: Choe (T) 52.35; 100 breaststroke: Yi (T) 57.25; 400 free relay: Tenafly (Datiroiu, Choe, A. Lee, Baltaytis) 3:19.12.
Team records: Chatham 14-0, Tenafly 11-1.
Site of meet: Gloucester County Institute of Technology. Distances in yards.
This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: NJ boys swimming: Chatham beats Tenafly NJSIAA Public B state final
