Mae Straesser leads Port Washington-Roslyn girls swimming team to first Nassau championship
Port Washington-Roslyn wins the Nassau girls swimming championships at the Nassau Aquatic Center on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. Credit: Brittney Dietz
The tides are turning in Nassau girls swimming. For the second year in a row, the county has a brand new champion.
Port Washington-Roslyn earned its first county crown with a team score of 383.5 on Saturday at the Nassau Aquatic Center in East Meadow.
After finishing second last season and keeping almost the same roster, Mae Straesser said it was the perfect storm to bring home the plaque. Straesser helped her team to two first-place finishes in the 200-and 400-yard freestyle relays and placed second in the 50-yard freestyle in 24.61 seconds.
The 200-freestyle team, which won in one minute, 40.35 seconds, also featured Carina Dai, Mila Fisher, and Sydney Lei. The 400 team, which featured Dai, Straesser, Fisher and Kamila Ko, won in 3:29.97.
“It’s been a really great season overall because we didn’t graduate any seniors last year, so we have the same team,” Straesser said. “I feel like that made it easier for us. We were the runner-up last year so we had the opportunity to build off that and it was so great to actually make it happen.”
Dai also won the 50 free (23.91) and the 100 butterfly (55.29). She finished third in the state in the 100 butterfly last season.
“It’s really an honor because we’re racing against some of the fastest girls in the state right here, and it’s just a privilege to come here, compete with them and take home a county title,” Dai said. “Everyone on this team is super tight-knit and we have a really coherent group.”
Port Washington and Roslyn combined teams three years ago, and coach Joseph Lennon said that merge was invaluable. Most of the team’s roster is from Port Washington, but the combination brought some difference-making additions — like Dai.
“This is something we’ve been waiting a long time for, longer than they’ve even been alive,” Lennon said. “It’s so exciting and we’ve come close before — we’ve had our ups and downs — but we just had the right crew of swimmers at exactly the right time. Everybody came together for this and I couldn’t be prouder of them.”
Zangaro, Kohner win
Impressive performances came from all over the pool. Long Beach’s Vivienne Zangaro earned crowns in the 200-and 500-yard freestyle. She’s a two-time reigning state champion in both events, and came two tenths of a second away from breaking the state record in the 500 with a time of 4:44.78. She won the 200 in 1:47.05.
Garden City’s Charlotte Kohner won her first county title in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 52.07.
“It was a really happy moment because I feel like I’ve been waiting for this,” Kohner said. “I knew that I was seeded first in the county and I really wanted to get first, it was one of my goals for this meet. It was something I was really focused on and it was so relieving to actually have it happen.”
Shlivko takes two
Jericho’s Yuri Shlivko took down reigning champions Una Diaz of Long Beach and Kayra Patan of Herricks in the 200-yard individual medley (2:03.14) and 100-yard breaststroke (1:03.05), respectively. Shlivko finished third in the state in both events last season.
“It was very surprising but it was exciting at the same time,” she said. “To know that all my hard work actually pays off and benefits me is really nice. It’s super exciting to have the opportunity to be part of this meet and do it with my team.”
‘We work together’
After a special season for Port Washington-Roslyn — going undefeated in dual meets and earning its first conference and division titles — Fisher said winning the county crown was the perfect way to cap it.
“Being conference champions really pushed us to be division champions and now county champions,” Fisher said. “We work together and push each other to be our best every day. We put a lot of work in to get here and it just feels amazing.”
Tess Ferguson is a reporter on Newsday's high school sports staff. She joined the team after graduating with a journalism degree from Ithaca College in 2025.
