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Daily Sports Digest: Former Rockland Swimmer Competing At Olympic Trials

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Conor Carlucci, of New City, will compete in the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials starting next Monday in Omaha, Neb.

“Qualifying for Olympic Trials has been a goal of mine since my freshman year of high school. It’s a goal that I’ve worked towards in every practice since then,” he said. “For the meet to finally be here after all of the work that I put into it is exciting.”

Carlucci, who graduated from Brown University last year, first started in meets for the Condors in the Rockland County Summer Swim League at 6-years-old, but didn’t seriously start competing until his sophomore year of high school. His freshman year at Clarkstown South, he played lacrosse.

“With the completion of the pool at Felix Festa [Middle School] during my sophomore year of high school, it helped bring my swimming to the next level,” Carlucci said. “We are so fortunate to have a 50-meter pool – an Olympic sized pool, as opposed to a 25-yard pool in which high school and college meets are contested – right in our backyard. A home venue where we could train 50 meters and host the Section One championships was something our team took great pride in.”

At the event, Carlucci will compete in the 100-meter breaststroke, which he qualified for with a time of 1:04.67.

Carlucci now lives and works full-time in Manhattan, which makes practicing a bit difficult.

“I cannot put as much time into swimming as I did in high school and college. I typically swim after work at the New York Athletic Club, where I am a member of the swim team,” Carlucci said. “A typical practice consists of 2,000- 3,000 yards of swimming, and depending on the day, biking or weight lifting. In college, and during my summers spent training at the University of Texas, mid-season training consisted of about 6,000-10,000 yards per day, in addition to a rigorous weight-lifting and dry-land training schedule.”

While at Brown, Carlucci was named captain and MVP of the swim team his senior season, and he holds the school records in the 200 individual medley, 100 breaststroke and 200 breaststroke. While at South he was an All-American in 100 breaststroke, Section One Swimmer of the Year in 2006 and a four-time MVP of the combined Clarkstown team.

“Swimming is an introspective sport. You spend so much time with your head underwater that it forces you to think. It breeds discipline and independence, which I think have served me so well in all other aspects of my life,” Carlucci said. “It’s also much more of a team sport than people give it credit for, working hard with the same group of people throughout a season builds tremendous bonds of friendship. I am so grateful for the group of friends that I made through my time at the Condors and in swimming four years at Brown.”

Legendary Tappan Zee High School Coach Dies

Dan Dinan, who coached multiple sports at Tappan Zee, including a 31-year stint as the golf coach, died recently at the age of 82, according to former Pearl River Athletic Director Tom Doherty. There will be a wake at Moritz Funeral Home, 98 Route 303, Tappan, on Wednesday, June 20th from 6-8 p.m. and Thursday, June 21 from 3-8 p.m. The funeral mass will be on Friday, June 22 at 10 a.m. at St. Catherine's Church, 521 Western Highway, Blauvelt.

During his time as golf coach, Dinan led the team to a record of 396-94-10 and won 16 league titles and five sectional titles. In the early 1980s, the team won 62 straight matches. Dinan led the team to a winning record every year of his tenure except for 1994, when the team went 6-8.

Dinan also coach the JV basketball team and took over as varsity coach in 1963. He coached varsity basketball for six years.

He also refereed local high school and college basketball games since 1963.

Do You Know A Local Olympian?

With the 2012 Summer Olympics in London starting July 27, Patch is looking for any local athletes participating in or that qualified for the games.

If you know of any, we’d love to speak with them and ask you to email us at HVDailySportsDigest@gmail.com.

Sports Poll

This week’s sports poll . This week brings the official start of summer, and summer brings some of the year’s most exciting sporting events. Which ones are you anxiously awaiting?

The Daily Sports Digest is Patch’s way of increasing reader involvement in sports coverage. We would like to provide you with step-by-step instructions for you to add your best photos and/or videos to share. If you see anything in our high school scores, standings or schedule that requires updating, please e-mail Adam Littman directly at HVDailySportsDigest@gmail.com or like us on Facebook and post updates on our wall. Marc Maturo covers college athletics across the nation. Please send updates of your local schools or players to marcmaturo@aol.com.

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