Eleven Westport Weston YMCA Water Rats and two coaches gathered today to travel together to Greensboro, N.C. to compete in the 2015 YMCA National Short Course Championships. By team tradition, four “rookies” on the trip don pink bunny ears until they reach Greenboro. The swimmers who have qualified for this prestigious meet include Bryce Keblish, Tommy Gannon, Michael Deluca, Daniel Williams, Justin Summers, North Woods, Alex Rigione, John Whiteside, Willow Woods, Sarah Grinalds, Aileen Coyne and Ethan Hunter. The rookies with the ears are North Woods, Willow Woods, Aileen Coyne and Alex Rigione. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo

The Longshore Ladies Nine Hole Golf Association held its 2015 season membership meeting today at the Westport Library. Speakers included (l-r) John Cooper, club pro; Mike Golden, ValleyCrest supervisor; Stuart McCarthy, Parks and Recreation director; and Fred Hunter, Golf Advisory Committee (GAC) chair. Kathie Bennewit (c), won a three-hybrid door prize.
Golden told the meeting ValleyCrest is looking to continue the improvements on playing conditions of the course. GAC improvements this year include hole markers and new tee markers. The league plays Thursday mornings April through October. New this year are online tee times, inclusion of Westport and nonresidents, league shirts, and more prizes. It is not too late to join. Contact Susan Lloyd at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) for information. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo

What to do if Longshore’s fairways and greens are still covered in white? If you’re Patty Kondub, head coach of the Staples Girls Golf Team, you take the squad to the Westport Weston Family YMCA (where she works) for a pre-season workout in the Y’s cycle studio. The lady golfers finished second in the state last season, and this year, “We’re going to carry on the Staples tradition – winning and having fun,” says Kondub (back l. while Assistant Coach Liz Fry is back r.). (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo

Golfweek Magazine’s annual ranking of Best Courses You Can Play State by State for the first time lists Westport’s Longshore Club Park, coming in at No. 9 for the State of Connecticut.

The course, which experienced maintenance issues until the town brought in an outside company in 2013, was originally designed as a private course in the mid-1920s by Orin E. Smith and renovated by architect John Harvey.

“We are honored to know that Longshore is recognized by Golfweek Magazine as one of the best courses to play in the state of Connecticut,” said head golf professional John Cooper.

“We have always known how special this golf course is and we hope anyone in Connecticut or visiting the area will call and book a tee time and experience the uniqueness of golf at Longshore.”

Westport’s U13 Blue Team today won the Westport Soccer Association’s Westport Invitational Soccer Tournament, known as WIN, at Staples High School. The team sealed the victory by winning in penalty kicks after a 2-2 tie in the finals against Chelsea Piers Premiere. In all, they played four games leading up to championship game – a 1-1 tie against Norwalk; a 0-2 loss to Chelsea Piers Premiere, a 4-0 win over Fairfield, and a 7-0 win over Westport U13 White in the semifinals. Pictured are (top row, l-r) Assistant Coach Alex Anveri, Emerson Anveri, Sam Maged, Lars Djuve, Michael Lau, Drew Halpern, Chet Ellis, Tadeo Messenger, Head Coach Amar Bellara; (bottom row) Andrew Lau, Benny Feuer, Vignesh Kareddy, Matisse DeVos, Colin Corneck, Evan Siegel, Teddy O’Kane, and Josh Dedomenico. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo

The Longshore Women’s Golf Association’s (LWGA) 18-hole league will kick-off the 2015 golf season with an opening meeting on Tuesday, April 7 at 6 p.m at the Westport Weston YMCA.

This marks the 55th year for the organization, which was founded in 1960. All women golfers from Westport as well as surrounding towns are invited to attend the meeting and become members of LWGA. an announcement said.

LWGA has a history of offering fun weekly tournaments and competitive matches to all women golfers.  Seasonal events are held every Tuesday and will begin in May and run through October. 

A full tournament schedule and details about membership will be discussed at the opening meeting. For more information about LWGA, visit the website at http://www.lwgagolf.org or email the membership chair Pat Kimball at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

The six Wreckers swimmers from Staples High School today placed eighth at the state open swimming championships at the six-lane amphitheater pool at Yale University.

Max Wimer competes in the 200-yard freestyle event. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo

The team was led by senior Daniel Williams who was declared the co-champ in the 500-yard freestyle after an ultra-rare dead heat in high school swimming’s longest and most grueling event.

Williams trailed Karl Bishop from Cheshire who seemed to dominate the race with a comfortable lead until the final 100 yards, when Williams, trailing by two body lengths, started to surge.

The crowd at the arena grew loud as Williams caught Bishop about 10 yards from the finish and big cheers erupted when the scoreboard reported matching times of 4:35.61.