It was a banner year for the Wantagh High School varsity swim and dive team which went undefeated on its way to conference title, and also earned several individual honors. 

The team finished first place in Conference IV, capturing its first dual-meet championship in 15 years. Captains Brendan O’Callaghan and Tom Taggart took first and second, respectively, in the breaststroke in the last dual meet of the season to seal the victory and conference title.

Captains Max Catok, Matthew Como and Sean Tinoco and ninth grader Will Recinos all ranked in the top 10 of the conference. Eighth grader Matthew Kubis ranked first overall, earning him the 2026 Conference IV Swimmer of the Year. Additionally, coach Christopher Rafferty was named the Conference IV Coach of the Year. 

All-Conference swimmers and divers included Max Catok, Matthew Como, Mattthew Kubis, Martin Lindquist, John Ober, Will Recinos, Luke Rose, Thomas Taggart, Sean Tinoco and Ethan Vicari.

Will Recinos and fellow freshman Luke Rose swam the 200-meter individual medley, Ethan Vicari and Matt Errante, and Martin Lindquist and Collin LePorin swam the 200-meter freestyle. Freshmen Landon Burke and Boxuan Tang swam the 50-meter freestyle and backstroke events, and seventh grader John Ober earned All-Conference honors in his first year of diving.

The team was honored at a recent Nassau County Swim Coaches Association awards dinner. 

“It was such a fun year,” Coach Rafferty said. “Wantagh’s swimmers and divers really know how to commit and train while still keeping loose and fun. They were a dream team to coach.”