By Copey Rollins ’26
Student Writer, Bearcat Sports Media

On Saturday, Hotchkiss boys and girls swimming and diving teams faced off against Loomis in their 5th meet of the season. However, before the racing began, the Hotchkiss community was visited by three Special Olympic swimmers for the second year in a row as they competed in two relays with members from both the Hotchkiss and Loomis swim teams. The teams were joined by Mason Catania, Selina Derungs, and Nicholas Margolfo, all of whom are Special Olympic swimmers from Connecticut. 

Selina Derungs has been swimming for over 25 years and swam for the US in the Special Olympic World Games in 2015. Margolfo is a very accomplished athlete as well. He was able to represent the state of Connecticut in the national games. Lastly, Mason Catania, just 12 years old, was able to swim alongside the two athletes with extremely impressive resumes. 

At the beginning of the swim meet all three athletes swam at the end of the 200 freestyle relay, and the 200 medley relay. Each Special olympic swimmer swam as the anchor leg of a team made up of three swimmers from either school. Some of the bearcats that got the opportunity to swim with the special olympic athletes were: Sofie Perkel ’24, Oliver Johnson ’25, Gibson Werner ’24, Mathew Hong ’26, Quisha Lee ’24, Brayden Kavanagh ’25, Gunn Pongsivapai ’24, Kiera Dwan ’24, and Maia Chinatti ’24. These Hotchkiss swimmers were joined with many swimmers from Loomis to make up the Relays. 

The stands were full and excited as the high school swimmers started off the relay, however it was once the Special Olympic swimmers started that the stands erupted into cheers to help bring the athletes home. 

The relays were followed by the regular swim meet having both the boys and girls face off against the extremely strong Loomis team. Unfortunately both teams lost with the girls meet ending with a score of 78-96 and the boys team losing 79-94. Both teams hope to get a win next week as both boys and girls face off against Canterbury.