Sopko, Haynes Lead Sharks in First Meet

By Matt Brooks (Contact)

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Paige Haynes took her mark for the 50-meter breaststroke, turned to teammate Eric Sopko who was set several lanes to her right and with her most intimidating face, laid down the gauntlet.

"You're going down," she said.

Haynes and Sopko weren't officially competing against one another in Saturday's Old Dominion Swim League dual meet at Broadlands, but you wouldn't have guessed that from watching the race as the two 15-year-olds from Belmont Country Club pushed one another to the finish.

Both could have cruised to easy victories over the opponents in their respective heats, but with bragging rights on the line they sprinted to the wall where both immediately looked to the timing officials to see who came out on top.

"Sometimes I'm out there just to beat myself," Sopko said, referring to the small heats for the oldest age group. "But combining with the 15-to-18 girls, I've got Paige to go against and I know she's going to give me a good race."

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Belmont CC at Broadlands Dual Swim Meet

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Members of the Broadlands Piranhas and the Belmont Country Club Sharks stand ready to start the next race. (Matt Brooks)

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Swimmers compete in a 50-meter backstroke heat. (Matt Brooks)

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Competitors participate in a 50-meter freestyle race. (Matt Brooks)

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Swimmers compete in a 50-meter backstroke heat. (Matt Brooks)

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Competitors jump to start in a 25-meter freestyle race. (Matt Brooks)

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Belmont competitor Paige Haynes, 15, swims in the girl's 15-18 50-meter butterfly. She won the heat with a time of 37.06. (Matt Brooks)

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Belmont team member Eric Sopko, 15, swims in the 15-18 boys 50-meter breaststroke. He won with a time of 40.48. (Matt Brooks)

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With an unofficial time of 40.48, Sopko narrowly edged Haynes (42.17) and took the race, as both cruised to victories in their respective heats, helping the Sharks get past Broadlands 449.5-446.5.

Haynes and Sopko, both members of the Stone Bridge High School swim team, are part of a relatively small contingent of high school swimmers competing with the Sharks this summer. While many of their teammates and opponents at Stone Bridge train and compete on their own during the offseason, Sopko says he relishes the opportunity to be a part of a spirited team ranging in age from 18-year-olds to children six and under.

"At Stone Bridge it's more competitive," he said. "There are a lot of kids that are trying to make it into the Olympic trials. Here it's much more fun. It's all about team spirit and just having a blast, teaching little kids to swim so hopefully someday they can make it to the Olympics."

Sopko – who has competed with the Sharks since Belmont's team was founded six years ago – paraded around the pool deck in a giant pirate hat when he wasn't in the water, reminding younger teammates how to execute flip turns and where they needed to line up for the next event. But his contributions in the pool proved just as valuable as Belmont needed every point it could muster to hold off the host Piranhas.

Following the 12 freestyle events, Broadlands held a 101-88 lead. But the Sharks rallied with strong performances in the later events, including several key wins in the butterfly, individual medley and medley relays.

Sopko and Haynes squared off once again in the 50-meter butterfly, with Sopko finishing second in his age group. Haynes – who finished more than five seconds ahead of her closest female competitor – made it close yet again, but all banter aside, she was satisfied with winning her heat and helping her team clinch the meet.

"Today it was more about personal bests for me, because swimming against him I know I'm not going to get the best time," she said. "But we're neighbors, we swim together at Stone Bridge, and we've swum together here for a long time, so we like to have fun. Really it's all about getting points for the team."

Both teams will be back in action next Saturday as Broadlands travels to Courts and Ridges and Belmont plays host to South Riding.

Updated 6/26: The scores from the meet were recalculated after at least one official score was found to be incorrect. The corrected final score from the meet was Belmont 455.5, Broadlands 432.5. One of the corrected scores was Haynes' 50-meter breaststroke.

Tagged: Old Dominion Swim League, sports, swimming

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