WAKEFIELD — Superintendent David DiBarri is pleased to share that Northeast Metro Tech’s boys and girls swim teams finished fifth and fourth respectively at the State Vocational Championships, with student athletes winning a gold medal, a silver medal, and three bronze medals. 

The championships were held on Friday, Feb. 2, and were attended by student athletes from vocational schools across the Commonwealth. The meet was the last of the year for the swim team, which has a 2-7-1 record while swimming in the Commonwealth Athletic Conference. 

Senior Sophia Nylin, of Malden, tied for second place in overall points among girls after taking first place in the 100-yard breaststroke while beating her personal best time by about five seconds. Nylin also earned third place in the 200-yard individual medley, and swam on the 200-yard medley relay and the 200-yard freestyle relay teams, which earned second place and third place respectively. 

“Sophia Nylin’s performance was exceptional,” said Coach Nicholas Lippman. “Sophia beat the second-place swimmer in the 100-yard breaststroke by about 10 seconds.”

Nylin was proud of her performance in both the 100-yard breaststroke and the 200-yard individual medley, saying the third place finish in the medley motivated her to continue getting better as she aspires to swim in college as well.

“It was personally gratifying to me because the breast stroke is my best and favorite stroke,” said Nylin. “I was able to see how all my hard work paid off.”

Other standout swimmers included senior Bodour Belayachi, of Saugus, who took third place in the 100-yard butterfly and fourth in the 200-yard individual medley. Belayachi beat her personal best in the 100-yard butterfly by about five seconds. She also swam on the second-place medley relay team and third-place freestyle medley team. 

Sophomore Philip McGann, of Woburn, finished fourth in the 50-yard freestyle and seventh in the 100-yard freestyle. Junior Dayanara Zelaya, of Revere, finished fifth in the 100-yard backstroke. Senior Nicolas Bedoya Agudelo, of Revere, took fifth in the 100-yard backstroke and seventh in the 500-yard freestyle. The boys 200-yard freestyle relay team finished fourth, and the boys 400-yard freestyle relay team finished fifth. 

“We are very pleased with our teams’ performances,” said Coach Kelly Miller. “It is difficult to quantify where we stand with respect to other vocational schools, but this meet and this season showed us tremendous improvement in our swimmers. They have a lot to be proud of.”