East Lyme High School will start the swimming portion of the Class M state championships Saturday with 57 points.

That's because divers Hanna Suarez and Jasmine Bazinet finished first and second in the diving portion of the meet Wednesday at Bulkeley High School in Hartford. Suarez, who won the Eastern Connecticut Conference meet last Thursday, won Class M with 390.75 points for 11 dives and Bazinet was second with 378.45. Both earned all-state honors and qualified for next week's State Open.

Suarez follows East Lyme graduate Caroline Gonsalves, who was last year's Class M champ.

"They rocked," East Lyme diving coach Holly Buckley said. "Between Hanna and third is (56) points and between Jazzy and third is over 40 points. Both of them have really proved themselves this year. It's been a great week.

"(Hanna) is always looking to perfect the dive. She doesn't stop practicing it until she really gets it. Once she gets a good one, then she can move on to the next dive. She's not going to leave that one looking ugly. She's just very diligent. I think she wanted to show everyone she could fill Caroline's shoes, that she in herself is a very good diver."

Suarez, a senior, was fourth in last year's Class M meet and 10th in the State Open.

East Lyme will compete in the Class M swimming preliminaries Saturday at East Hartford High School, with the finals scheduled for Tuesday at Wesleyan University in Middletown. The Vikings are the top seed in the 200-yard freestyle relay, while junior Emma Magna is the No. 2 seed in the 100 freestyle and senior Ugne Kirvelivicius the No. 2 seed in the 100 breaststroke.

- Vickie Fulkerson