Lucca twins help Hauppauge/Smithtown girls swimming repeat as Suffolk champ
Hauppauge-Smithtown sophomore Sarah Lucca takes a breath while competing in the 100 butterfly at the Suffolk girls swimming championships at Stony Brook on Sunday. Credit: Sofia Sawchuk
Twin sisters Sarah and Julia Lucca of Hauppauge/Smithtown girls swimming don’t often swim against each other. According to Julia, their parents, Amy and Tom, prefer it that way.
So, when the sophomore siblings faced off in the 50-yard freestyle, there wasn’t a sense of envy. Instead, both shared a well-earned sense of pride as Sarah Lucca took first in 23.34 seconds and Julia Lucca took second (23.46).
“I was thinking of her when I was swimming,” Sarah Lucca said.
“I’m always happy when I get to swim with her, even though our parents hate it,” Julia Lucca said. “I think it’s always fun because it’s someone that I know and can swim against and be happy if I lose or win against her.”
It’s just one of several events the duo thrived in for Hauppauge/Smithtown, which won its fifth straight county title at Suffolk’s girls swimming championships Sunday at Stony Brook University.
The Lucca twins, alongside eighth-grader Ellianna Esposito and sophomore Olivia Chiofolo, opened the meet by breaking the county record in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:43.25. Both twins helped set the previous record of 1:44.71 in 2023 for Hauppauge/Smithtown.
“It’s just so much fun to watch everyone do what they love to do,” Julia Lucca said. “Especially when we can get a win and some records, too. That’s not bad, either.”
Sarah Lucca, who was named the meet’s MVP, also won the 100-yard butterfly (55.37) and helped Chiofolo, eighth-grader Sylvia Bonn and junior Avery Wilcox take first for Hauppauge/Smithtown in the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:37.26).
Julia Lucca later broke Smithtown’s Leah Treglia’s 2022 county record of 54.58 in the 100-yard backstroke (54.38). It wasn’t something the sophomore thought she’d do when she woke up Sunday morning.
“Every time I come up when I’m done and I hear people cheering, I get really excited because that means I did pretty well,” Julia Lucca said.
“That was the most I screamed in a year,” Sarah Lucca added.
Senior Meghan Brady of Sayville/Bayport-Blue Point won first place in two events for the first time in her five years competing, winning both the 100-yard freestyle (51.63) and the 200-yard freestyle (1:52.67).
“I’ve been a lot happier and more positive [this season], and it being my senior year, I just wanted to make the most of it and not regret anything,” Brady said.
Longwood junior Brook Orner won the 500-yard freestyle (5:08.18) for a second straight year. She also placed third in the 50-yard freestyle (23.65) behind the Lucca twins.
“Around the 200, 300-yard mark, you definitely feel the burn there,” Orner said. “I was just like … ‘You’re going strong, keep holding it. Just don’t die.’ ”
Sophomore Alexis Vitiello of Babylon took first in the 200-yard individual medley (2:11.24). Sayville/Bayport-Blue Point senior Grace Cullen placed second (2:13.49). Cullen took first in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:06.41).
Michael Sicoli covers high school sports for Newsday. He graduated from Quinnipiac in 2022 and left with a master’s degree in sports journalism in 2023.
