Manhasset boys swimming team comes in fourth place at Nassau County Championships

Three swimmers from the 20-member team will compete in the New York State Federation and Public School Championships in Ithaca — Andrew Koek, Theodore Shum, and Warren Peng.

“The majority of our athletes did their season best times,” Coach Matthew McGrane said about the county championships.

At Friday’s preliminary swimming session, swimmers Darim Mirza, Conor Stanton, Tony Tan and Aidan Wu all hit personal records.

And at Saturday’s finals, eight swimmers advanced to the finals and “placed in the top 20 scoring round.”

“Andrew was one of our highlights of the weekend,” McGrane said.

Andrew Koek placed first in the 100-yard breaststroke, earning All-American Consideration and qualifying for the state championships. He also placed second in the 200-yard individual medley, setting a new school record.

“My parents put me in lessons to learn how to swim just so I wouldn’t drown,” Koek said, but he said he enjoyed swimming and joined the team at his swim school. 

He said he started swimming competitively when he was eight years old. Koek said he played other sports, but stuck with swimming because it was his best, and would go on to join the high school swimming team when he was only in eighth grade.

This season is his fifth and last year on the team as he is set to graduate in June.

“I’m seated first in the [state for the] 100-yard breaststroke, so I hope to take home the gold,” Koek said. “It’s also my senior year, so I wanna go out with a bang.”

Koek said he plans to continue to swim competitively in college.

Peng, a sophomore at Manhasset Secondary School, said he was excited for the state championships.

“I can’t wait to show everyone what I got and what I’ve been training for,” he said.

Peng secured the fourth-place ranking for the 100-yard backstroke and fifth place for the 500-yard freestyle, qualifying for state championships for both.

Peng also had been involved in several different sports, but he said, “When I was swimming, I felt like this was the sport for me.”

McGrane has been coaching swimming at Manhasset Secondary School for 33 years and coaches both the boys and girls teams. McGrane is also a physical education teacher and said he never pictured himself in the role.

But he said, “It just seemed to click for me. Kids listened to me, which always amazed me. I never thought I would be a teacher.”

McGrane began as a swimming instructor at a pool on Long Island before going on to manage pools, run swimming leagues, and, of course, coach. 

“I got into coaching probably because I had a lot of bad coaches,” he said. “And I had a couple of very good coaches who saw me for who I was and gave me the opportunity to find my strength. I always wanted to be a coach who was there for their athletes, but also held a certain standard.”

“He always supports me,” Peng said. “If I don’t do good, he always encourages me.” 

“If you ask him for help after practice on some techniques, he’ll stay and help you,” Koek said. “I feel like I could ask him for anything and he would help.”

McGrane said that he tries to focus on the individual athlete to help them achieve their goals and perform better.

“If they came to me with a good attitude, giving their all, I always wanted to make sure that I gave them just as much in return, if not double the amount back,” he said.

And the team has done quite well this season.

Koek, Shum, and Peng will compete next on Friday, March 6, and Saturday, March 7, at the New York State Federation and Public School Championships in Ithaca.