The Walpole High School Swimming and Diving Team suffered a tough loss to a strong Brookline team with a score of 83-98 on Friday, Oct. 26. Despite the loss, Walpole had strong performances from a few outstanding swimmers including freshmen, Casey Laliberte, and sophomore Dallin Byerly.

“Brookline is a very good competitor and they are definitely one of our hardest competitors that we face all season,” junior diver Catherine Martin said.  

Walpole swimmers were unable to outswim the Brookline Swimming Team, but Laliberte, who had already qualified for Sectionals prior to the Brookline meet, finished with a time of 5:24.73, falling one second shy of beating his personal record of 5:23.09 in the 500 yard freestyle.  He went up against two other Walpole swimmers, who also sought to improve their personal best times.

“I performed very well as I made states and got a school record. I had to swim fast for my team to get us some points and give us a chance,” Laliberte said.

Another outstanding swimmer for Walpole was sophomore Dallin Byerly who raced in both the 200 IM and 100 freestyle and finished in first place for the Walpole Rebels at a time of 1:07.66, despite the tough competition he was forced to face from the Brookline team.  

“I did alright. I beat my time in the 100 fly,” said Byerly.

Senior Captains Emma Whitestone, Niall Kelley, Haley Gilmore and Emily Hendricks also competed in this past Friday’s meet against Brookline. Kelley finished in third place with a time of 25.94 when competing, and he was also able to grab a second place title with a time of 1:13.50. Gilmore finished in fourth place during the 500 meter free, a 20 lap race, with a new personal best shaving off one second at 6:53:67, and Whitestone competed in the 200 IM relay, 100 free, and the 200 relay.

“We had to practice really hard and get into our zone to push ourselves,” Senior captain Emma Whitestone said, as the team was preparing for their meet against Brookline.

Walpole prepares for the post season where some of the swimmers will get the opportunity to compete.  Swimmers who qualified for Sectionals include: Dallin Byerly, Brigham Byerly, Ayush Barathwaj, Casey Laliberte, Lily Nguyen, Genna Barry, Matt Ferarro, Matt Samargadelis, Mike Rose and Andrew Hendricks.  Along with these athletes, Sectionals divers Amanda Melish and Deirdre McCarthy will also attend.

“ I would say that the team is looking very good and is in good shape going into the postseason,” senior Captain Emily Hendricks said.

As for the post season, the team hopes to continue to improve. After swimming in their last regular season meet against Milton, the swimmers are now awaiting Sectionals where they will face even tougher competitors.

“We are getting prepared for the postseason. The team is resting up a little at practice and the boys are trying to win Conference and Sectionals,” Laliberte said.