For the second straight year, Valley Central swimmer Sean Zupko and diver Dan Harrington will attend the New York state swimming and diving championships together.

Zupko will swim the 500-yard freestyle after winning a sectional title in the event and the 100-yard backstroke, while Harrington will dive at the state championship meet, scheduled for Friday and Saturday at The Nassau County Aquatic Center in East Meadow.

“It’s amazing,” Harrington said. “Being able to just go in general is a great thing.”

Zupko, who said he’s looking to reach the state meet’s A, or at least B finals, is seeded 11th in the 500-yard freestyle and 49th in the 100-yard backstroke.
“It was crazy,” Zupko said. “The pool’s massive. There’s some really fast guys there. It’s really cool to see how I was fitting in there with all these big names that I’ve been watching for a long time.”

Last year, Zupko reached the state consolation finals in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:51.87. His seed time this year is about 11 seconds faster.
Harrington is seeded 34th in diving with his sectional score of 472.45.

“The team is all my best friends,” he said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better team. Sean is great. Going to states with him is going to be amazing. I think it will just be really fun.”

They’ll also be going to states with one other area competitor as Pine Bush’s Jordan Vazquez also qualified in diving. Finishing third with a score of 484.10. Harrington finished fourth.

It will be Vazquez’s first trip to the state meet.

While he’s the lone swimmer from Pine Bush, Zupko and Harrington are relishing the opportunity to represent Valley Central together.

“It makes it 10 times better,” Zupko said. “Dan and I have known each other since we were little so it’s awesome to go to states with him. We can both cheer each other on and it makes the whole experience that much better.”