High school swimming: Fourth annual Lorain County Hall of Fame class announced

The fourth annual Lorain County Swimming and Diving Hall of Fame class will be enshrined Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Pine Lakes Residential Community HOA clubhouse in Strongsville. The 2022 class is comprised of Southview's Ian Murray, Magnificat's Katie Deak of Grafton, Elyria High's Mike Marsico, Elyria Catholic's Brittany Tweardy, Amherst's Dominic Pecze and former North Ridgeville coach Rich Arenas. Due to COVID-19 restrictions last year, this year's class will be inducted along with the 2021 class, which includes Elyria's Earl Chesler, Firelands' Laura (Clark) Mason, Elyria Catholic's Paige (Samek) Lapchak and MacKenzie Tweardy, Avon Lake's Morgan Srail and former longtime Elyria Y coach Dave Wessely. Ian Murray (Southview, class of 1996) Murray was a five-time Division I All-Ohio swimmer and four-year letterwinner who competed as an independent for the Saints. His passion for swimming developed long before high school. Murray was coached in high school by Nathan Dockter, but Ian's dad, Bruce Murray Sr., was equally involved as an assistant. Bruce Sr. also coached Ian in the Lorain Y program. Ian's older siblings, Bruce Jr. and Katriona, competed as independents for Brookside in the 1980s and later for Cleveland State. Katriona was also a Division I state qualifier in high school. Bruce Sr. and Ian's mom, Isabella, were Scottish immigrants, coming to the United States in 1966. "I took a little bit of pride (in competing for Southview) because swimming at that time wasn't incredibly big in Lorain County," Murray said. "There weren't many people doing what I was doing, whether it was with any of the few teams that existed at the time in Lorain County or were doing it independently like me. "The high school piece was certainly exciting and fun because I was an individual in my training situation. I had more opportunity and I was geared more to train for junior nationals or YMCA nationals. I love the state experience, especially back at a time where there was only one division. There's nothing like that environment at Branin Natatorium for that meet. I've been to a lot of big ones but there's nothing like that meet back in those days." Murray went on to swim at Cleveland State where he was a four-time Midwestern Collegiate Conference champ and a school record-holder in the 200 fly. Murray has been a swim coach since 2000, most recently for Dynamo Swim Club in Georgia since 2017 after earlier stints with Carmel Swim Club/Carmel High School in Indiana (2006-2017) and the Lake Erie Silver Dolphins (2000-06) in Northeast Ohio. He also coached Seychelles' Alexus Laird at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. Katie Deak (Magnificat/Grafton resident, class of 2001) Deak was the first state qualifier in the swim program's history dating back to 1986. She advanced to the Division I state diving meet three times, earning All-Ohio three times including a state runner-up performance her senior year. Deak came up a mere 0.45 of a point behind Lewis Center Olentangy junior Carrie McCambridge in the 11-dive competition, 424.75-424.30. It remains the second-closest finish in the 44-year history of the Division I girls state diving meet. Deak was coming off a career-record score of 482.5 from a week earlier, winning the 2001 Cleveland State district. "Divers are like swimmers. You taper to peak at the right time," Deak said. "When you have a really fantastic meet like that (for districts) you get a little nervous that you peaked a week early, but with my consistency I could have asked for much more at the state meet. My whole family was there. I think my grandmother cameas well. I had a ton of friends there that weren't involved in swimming or diving. I feel kind of lucky that they carpooled and came down to support me. I was really lucky to have a good network there. You could hear the cheers when I was in the water coming up. I thought, 'OK, they're watching me. Oh, gosh.'" Deak led the 11-round competition in Rounds 3 through 7. McCambridge took over the lead in Round 8 and never trailed again. "The reverse dives are tough. I was very proud of hitting the reverse 1½," Deak said. "I remember thinking initially (when it was all over) that I was a little disappointed and then thinking, this is phenomenal. You are so close to a state title, you can't help initially to feel that well." Deak's last three dives (inward 1½, back dive and back half somersault with a half twist) had a difficulty rating of 3.6. Deak actually gained 0.4 of a point over the last three dives. It just wasn't quite enough. "What's helpful about having multiple experiences is that you start to learn your routine," Deak said. "I had a CD I listened to all three years when I went to state. It was a 'good luck at state' CD. I just listened to that on repeat. It was just a random collection of oldies like 'Daydream Believer' by the Monkees and 'Henry the Eighth' by Peter Noone. The routines are huge. I had my alone time, but I also had some folks that could get on the deck so checking in with my sister (Teresa), checking in with some of the other members from JADE (Jeff Arnold Diving Enterprises) program. "It was just nice having that connection with people that you know and trust. I still have a group of three close friends that still call me '0.45.'" Deak comes from a family of divers. Her sister, Teresa, a 2003 Magnificat graduate, was a three-time state qualifier and two-time All-Ohio. Her brother, Andy, was a 1997 Division I state qualifier for St. Edward. Their grandfather, Ralph Kramer, was a diver in high school for Delaware Olentangy. Mike Marsico (Elyria High, class of 2007) Marsico was a two-time Division I All-Ohio swimmer in the 50 free, including a fifth-place finish at the 2007 state meet. He remains the Lorain County record-holder for the event, clocking 21.59 in winning the event at the Cleveland State district his senior year. Marsico is only the third Elyria swimmer to advance to the state classic and was the first in 23 years, following the footsteps of Earl Chesler (1935, 100 breast) and Bobby Walker (1983, 100 fly). What first lit Marsico's spark happened at the age of 7 as a member of the Elyria Y Torpedoes when he broke a 15-year-old club age group record previously held by Jerry Verhoff. "I had never broken a record before that so I guess I really didn't know what was possible and what wasn't possible. The record was really old so everybody really hyped it up. I was very proud of about myself about that," Marsico said. "My other greatest swim memory is probably winning districts. That was a pretty cool feeling. I really enjoyed that. That was a good one. Obviously, I'm very keen on qualifying for state. I was very proud to be the first Elyria High swimmer to make state in 23 years." Marsico went on to have a stellar Division I college career at Cleveland State (2007-11). He was a four-time Horizon League champ as a member of the 200 free relay and a three-time Horizon League champ as a member of the 200 medley relay. He was a league record-holder as a member of both the 200 medley and 200 free relays and a league finalist in the 50 free, 100 free and 200 free. He posted the fastest 50 free relay split in CSU history (19.49) set in 2008-09. "Honestly, the most important thing was that my grandfather (Lawrence Jezewski) taught me how to swim," Marsico said. "My most crowning achievement was that I just finished and made it all the way through. Now many kids make it from age 5 all the way through college. It's a lot of hours and morning practices. "I was proud that (Jezewski) was proud of me. He passed about five years ago so he supported me all the way through. He was the man. He drove me to all the meets and everything, timed at all the meets. Him seeing me all the way through was very important to me. I had plenty of records, but that's the thing I remember most. My dad died of brain cancer (in Aug. 2005) just prior to my junior year, but he was a great supporter, too. It definitely motivated me more to win. He never pressured me to do well but having his support to do well was so important." Brittany Tweardy (Elyria Catholic, class of 2008) Tweardy's swim career exploded during her sophomore year. It took off with a Division II state runner-up finish in 2005-06 as a member of the Panthers' 200 free relay along with Evann Heidersbach, Kay Weber and Paige (Samek) Lapchak, (1:40.41). By the time she graduated, Tweardy earned All-Ohio honors (top 16) four more times, two more times as a member of the 200 free relay plus once as a member of the 200 medley relay and once in the 50 free. "(Coach) Jack (Dibee) created a special atmosphere believing in each other that made us good," Tweardy said. Tweardy swam for 10 years for Elyria Country Club through the age of 16 growing up. "I joined the high school team freshman year not knowing what to expect," she said. "After freshman year I got pretty fast and sophomore year I realized I was actually fast. Jack was a special coach. If it were someone else coaching they might not have worked with me the same way." Tweardy, along with Heidersbach, Weber and Samek, came back in Tweardy's junior year to set the county record for the 200 free relay (1:39.61) while taking second at the Cleveland State district and ultimately taking fourth at state (1:40.81). As a senior, Tweardy teamed with Heidersbach, Caroline Hamp and Kelly O'Dell to finish fifth in the 200 free relay at state (1:42.09). Tweardy was a two-time state qualifier in the 50 free, highlighted by an 11th place finish as a senior (25.23). Elyria Catholic as a team finished in the top eight three times with Tweardy as a member, fifth in 2005-06, sixth in 2006-07 and eighth in 2007-08. Dominic Pecze (Amherst, class of 2011) Pecze was two-time Division I All-Ohio in the 100 back for Amherst, including a county-record 51.17 while taking fourth at the 2011 state meet. His swim career started to blossom his sophomore year. He advanced to districts for the first of three times in the 100 back, ultimately taking sixth at the 2009 CSU district in 56.43, which was a five-second improvement from his freshman year at sectionals. He squeezed into the 2010 state meet as the No. 24 and final seed (54.28), but moved all the way up to 10th (53.18) by taking second in the consolation final. Pecze was a main cog in the Amherst boys relays, advancing to districts twice as a member of the 200 medley relay and once as a member of the 400 free relay. "There's definitely a lot of memories with Amherst with all the people I grew up with swimming," Pecze said. "Most of the people I swam with I swam with before high school (Lorain-Vermilion YMCA Torpedoes, 1997-2008; Amherst Summer Swim Team, 1997-2011). In high school, I had a goal of swimming in college (for Ohio State). Putting in all the time and work at that age taught me how to work hard for things that I wanted. It kind of carried on from my high school career into college." Pecze was a seven-time Southwestern Conference winner and the 2011 SWC MVP. At the 2011 SWC championships, he won the 100 back (54.37) and 200 IM (2:02.70) plus contributed as a member of both the winning 200 medley (1:46.85) and 400 free (3:25.96) relays along with Andrew Machesky, Frankie Keeling and Tyler Moore. Their efforts led Amherst to its first SWC title over five-time defending champ Westlake, 352.5-338. "It started some nice momentum for the Amherst program and they've been pretty good since then," said Pecze, a three-time Big Ten All-Academic swimmer. Pecze comes from a family of swimmers. His mom, Mary Bartek, and dad, Scott Pecze, both swam in high school for Magnificat and North Ridgeville, respectively. Both are longtime area coaches, Mary as coach for Amherst since 2013 and Scott has served both as coach for Amherst and Elyria Catholic and now currently is an assistant for EC. Coach Rich Arenas (North Ridgeville) Arenas started the HOA swim program in the housing subdivision of Mills Creek in North Ridgeville in 1970. Through this, he introduced competitive swimming to hundreds of kids over the years and was a feeder program to the North Ridgeville High team. His first team consisted of 27 athletes and ultimately grew to as many as 130 annually. Much success came out of that Mills Creek subdivision program at the high school, college, national and international levels. There were three Division I state champions and four swimmers (brothers Kevin and Glenn Mills, Dave Housel and Dave Valega) combined for a total of 11 finishes in the top six at the state meet plus a combined nine All-American honors. Glenn Mills earned a berth on the 1980 U.S. Olympic team. Arenas started the inaugural North Ridgeville High swim team with just two swimmers and no home pool. It ultimately grew to 50 swimmers for the boys and girls team when Arenas stepped down in 1982. The Mills Creek HOA swim program still runs today. "The kids just all got together, worked hard and pushed each other," said Arenas, 76, a 1963 graduate of St. Ignatius. "Mills Creek was a new development back then so families kept moving in. What was unusual was that all the guys except for one that made the state meet, they all lived in that Mills Creek area. They got along, they still talk to each other. I still hear from Kevin Mills, who lives in California, Glenn Mills, and more than a few others." Arenas' efforts went way beyond coaching. In 1971, he launched the Mills Creek Invitational Swim Meet which grew to an annual event with 12 teams, hundreds of swimmers and over 1,000 entries. He co-founded the Homeowners Association Swim League (HASL) which had six teams. Mills Creek first built an outdoor 25-meter, six-lane pool on the south side of Center Ridge Road. Arenas club team later switched over when the development built another pool north of Center Ridge. The city and school district never came together to build an indoor pool. The North Ridgeville High team primarily relied on pools at Rocky River High and the North Olmsted Rec complex for training purposes and for hosting meets. "Whatever you threw at them, they did," Arenas said. "In the mornings we did a variety of workouts. We weren't crazy about a lot of yardage back then. We just did different things. We developed a pulley system where guys would wear ropes around their waists and we would attach them to baskets loaded with weights over the diving board. We used bands, we used fins, to pick up their speed, swam with tennis shoes and panty hose to increase resistance and drag. We used ropes and milk jugs for lane lines." Contact Paul Heyse at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.