NORWICH – The Norwich Purple Tornado boys’ swim team welcomed Sus Valley to Norwich High School on Tuesday evening for the first swim meet of the 2023 season. While Sus Valley brought a big team to compete and took the overall advantage of the meet, Norwich saw four of its five active swimmers contest well.

Nate Shtrauch and Kris Duel led Norwich in their respective events while freshmen Amon Oliver and Sharon Thinagarn saw action as well. Shtrauch, who returns as a sophomore, earned a first place finish in the 100 yard freestyle event with a time of 1:02, which was seven milliseconds ahead of Sus Valley’s top swimmer (1:02.07). Shtrauch also finished second in the 50 yard freestyle in another tight race with a time of 26.44 seconds. Amon Oliver (fifth) and Sharon Thinagarn (sixth) also competed in the 50 yard freestyle.

Junior Kris Duel, who shows upperclassman leadership on the rather young team, won both events he swam in, including the lengthy 500 yard freestyle event and in the 200 yard freestyle. He swam the 500 yard freestyle in 6:00.50, which is an event he’s been working hard on achieving a faster time in each meet. Duel swam the 200 yard freestyle in 2:08.83.

Norwich travels to Chenango Valley on Friday at 5:30 p.m.