Swimming: Neuendorf breaks dad's record; Tappan Zee takes title

By Debbie Schechter • dschecht@lohud.com • January 24, 2010

In Saturday's combined Conference IV and Rockland County Championships at North Rockland High School, Lance made good on his wish.

His time of 53.73 seconds broke his father's 1980 record by seven one-hundredths of a second, and his victory helped the Dutchmen win their first county team title in 14 years.

"It means so much to me and my dad," Lance Neuendorf said. "Ever since I've been on the team and we broke the medley record, I've been looking up and saying that I wish I had that record. He's been saying that it's time for the record to come down. He came down to the water and he hugged me."

The Dutchmen finished with 493 points. Clarkstown finished in second place with 427. Suffern, which had won the last nine county titles, finished in third with 412 points.

"It feels pretty nice," Tappan Zee's Stanley Wong said. "For all the seniors who have been on the team for six years and have been coming in second all those years and finally get one. It's a great feeling."

Lance was pretty happy with how everything went.

"I'm ecstatic right now," he said. "We are all very happy and we performed to our best."

Wong and Lance Neuendorf were the only swimmers to win multiple county and Conference IV titles. Neuendorf also won the 100 butterfly. Wong won the 50 freestyle and the 100 breaststroke as well as being a member of the 200 free relay. Both were on the 200 medley relay.

Wong's time of 21.31 for the 50 free broke the county and school records. The 200 free relay time of 1:29.08 and the 200 medley relay time of 1:38.66 are both county and school records.

Reed Neuendorf and Jack Carey also won individual titles for the Dutchmen. Reed won the 500 free and Carey won the 100 free.

Eric Farm of Clarkstown won the 200 individual medley and Rex Bernstein of Nyack won the 200 free title. Clarkstown also won the 400 free relay.