LEWISTON — Four Edward Little/Leavitt swimmers set the new school record for the boys 200-yard freestyle relay at Thursday night’s “Battle of the Bridge” swim meet against Lewiston at Bates College.

“Unbelievable, three 22s and a 25, absolutely amazing,” Edward Little coach Scott Morrison said about the record-setting relay, which clocked in with a time of 1:34.52. “I suspect that that may be, at the moment, the top 200-freestyle relay in the state in Class A.”

Cameron Lemieux, Gavin Holbrook, Leif Walker and Chase Leonardo now have their names in the Red Eddies record book.

Their victory also helped Edward Little/Leavitt win the boys competition over Lewiston, 107-12. On the girls side, Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland topped the Blue Devils 103-49.

The meet between the two rivals is always a memorable one, for moments like the Red Eddies relay setting a new school record, as well as what it means historically. The meet is annually dedicated to Chris Campbell, who passed in a car accident after graduating from Lewiston in 2001, and Lesley Martin, who tragically passed six months later during her senior year at Edward Little.

“I think it’s good that we continue to honor them,” Lewiston coach Troy Boutin said. “When I was in high school, Lesley was on the club team with me, she was a young kid at the time. She touched a lot of other people’s lives, including swimmers, and it’s nice that we use that as an opportunity to recognize Leslie and Chris Campbell.”

As a way to honor their legacy, two swimmers are given Lesley Martin and Chris Campbell awards, not for being the best or fastest, but for displaying honorable qualities on their team.

Senior Lilah Bright from Edward Little was given the Lesley Martin Award and co-winners of the Chris Campbell Award were Isaac Raymond and Gavin Holbrook.

“It means being a good leader on a team sport, and just part of the community, honestly,” Raymond said.

It’s also a time for the well-acquainted swimmers from both schools to flex their rivalry muscles against close friends among a big crowd of parents and community members. Two of the top swimmers in the state, the Blue Devils’ Gabby Roy and Red Eddies’ Emma Frumiento, swam neck and neck to alternate the top spot in their respective races, but ended each event with a congratulatory hug.

Frumiento took first place in the girls 50-yard freestyle with a time of 25.53, and Roy placed second at 25.70. The two switched spots for the girls 100-yard butterfly, when Roy placed first at 1:03.73 and Frumiento placed second, finishing at 1:12.27.

“I love racing Emma, she’s such a great competitor and seeing her so close to me really gives me the motivation to go fast,” Roy said. “We’re both so supportive of each other, like the second I touched the wall, she was congratulating me and giving me a hug.”

Roy also set a personal record in her 50-yard freestyle by 0.3 seconds, which she said was a byproduct of the energy at Tarbell Pool and the pressure of racing her former teammate and friend.

Frumiento, a junior at Hebron Academy, said her goals going into the postseason are to win the state title and beat her time of 25 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle.

“(The 50-free) honestly is my favorite and I just really like this meet,” Frumiento said. “Our club coach is here, me and Gabby’s club coach, and being in Lewiston is always fun at Bates; it’s a good pool.”

Another Lewiston swimmer who took home first place was Klara Cloutier, who finished the girls 200-yard freestyle at 2:21.56, which she said was the best time she’s had this season. The energy of this rivalry meet, specifically, contributed to her better times, she said.

“It’s just more of a vibe, like, you get more anxious pumped to do better,” Cloutier said. “Last year, we beat EL by one point, whereas this year, we’re significantly lower in numbers, so we kind of knew that we just like had to go in for the fun.”

She also said it was fun to lap people in the 500-yard freestyle, “as bad as that sounds,” but it was rewarding to beat other swimmers. Cloutier placed second at 6:19.74 in the 500-yard free, which was a co-ed event. She said it was funny to race against fellow teammate Raymond, who placed first at 5:42;04, because they could hear each other cheering across the lane lines during and after the race.

For Morrison, the memorial meet goes beyond times and accolades.

“We had some great swims. Our kids, we train really hard leading up to the Lewiston meet, which is our last school meet and then moving into conference and state championships,” Morrison said. “Our kids are focused on the end goal, whether Lewiston has 20 kids or 50 kids, whether EL has 20 kids or 50 kids, it doesn’t matter. As you may have heard me announcing tonight, we’re a family.”

Coach perspective on teams and seasons

Looking at his senior class, Morrison called the eight kids, “leaders, role models, dedicated, just an amazing group of kids,” and said he is excited for their future, but is sad to see them graduate.

“I think a specific skill in the pool is that these kids work with one another to make everyone better,” Morrison said. “It doesn’t matter what school they’re from, because they are so intertwined. They make everyone go fast.”

Boutin shared similar accolades about his two seniors, Mason Scardoni and Angelia Tancrede. This is Tancrede’s first season competitively swimming, and she said she joined the team to get over her fear of drowning.

“Mason has been on the team for three years, so he’s contributed quite a bit over those three years,” Boutin said. “Angelia joined our team for the first time this year, and she’s special. I’ve always appreciated Mason’s enthusiasm and he’s provided some leadership this year, which is helpful. He’s been a stalwart, as far as the boys go.”

Boutin shared that when Tancrede first joined the Blue Devils at the start of the season, she did not know how to swim. Now, she is competing in the lanes side by side with other seasoned swimmers and holding her own.

While this senior class is special to him, Boutin said every swimmer that comes through the Edward Little or Lewiston program has a unique, special set of skills, including hard work, dedication, discipline, care for and support of others.

“Swimming is the hardest sport there is. It takes, you know, courage every day to put your face in the water and deprive yourself of oxygen and push your body as hard as you possibly can over and over and over again,” Boutin said. “That’s what these kids do.”

Looking to the postseason, Morrison said the boys team has its eyes set on a repeat as conference champs, as well as a competitive state run.

“It will be a dogfight this year at KVACs with Mt. Ararat, and then that will carry over to states, and I think at the state meet, we’ll add Falmouth and Scarborough into that mix as well,” Morrison said. “We’ll see where it all plays out at the end, but we have a very good boys team.”

Boutin said he thinks the Blue Devils will have a strong showing at the state meet, and entering the conference championships.

“At the end of the day, every one of the swimmers here tonight will get to swim at the conference championship, which is wonderful,” Boutin said. “I hope that they all enjoy some personal success, improve their times and above and beyond all else, I want them to have fun.”

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