Boys swimming spotlight: Syosset has a passion that has brought multiple titles

Syosset boys after winning 88th-consecutive dual meet on Jan. 17 against Great Neck South. They tied the record held by Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK. Credit: Michael Cipollino
After a decade in the making, the Syosset boys swimming and diving team secured its 88th consecutive dual-meet win on Jan. 17, tying the Nassau record that Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK set in the 1970s.
“It’s been a lot of years,” coach Michael Cipollino said. “This streak dates back to January 2014.”
Before Cippolino joined as an assistant coach in 2010, Syosset hadn’t won a county championship since 2002. Now, they're 10-time Nassau I champions, and have won five county championships since 2019.
“When we moved from Conference II to Conference I, we could kind of see a vision of the future that if they continued to work hard, maybe we’d get a conference championship, maybe a county championship,” Cippolino said. “There’s been a lot of buy-in from our swimmers, divers and parents over all these years, and it’s all been worth it.”
Eighty-eight wins down, Cippolino hopes to continue this win streak and make history. He says the passion Syosset has for the sport can help them get there.
“They take a lot of pride in the fact that they’ve been able to compile those 88 wins, over what amounts to generations of swimmers coming through,” Cippolino said. “I think they continue to pass on — one generation of swimmers to the next — that caring for the sport, and all of those characteristics that it takes to be successful.”
After the record-tying feat, Syosset is now focusing on the county championships next week at the Nassau Aquatic Center in East Meadow (diving is Wednesday; swimming is Friday).
“Now that we’re getting into the championship time of the year, you kind of have to move past what you did in the regular season,” Cippolino said. “Now we have to prove ourselves, but I’m confident in our swimmers and divers that they’re going to rise up to the occasion and perform well in the big moment.”