East Lyme — There always seems to be an influx of freshmen in the pool at East Lyme High School, so that on a given day you could be watching, say, junior Taylor Gray, the reigning Eastern Connecticut Conference swimming championship performer of the meet, and stop to wonder who the kid is in that lane over there.

Gray said the competition makes the Vikings, unbeaten in the ECC, work even harder.

"The team this year is working so incredibly hard," Gray said. "In practice, when I'm really sore and don't want to keep going, there's always someone pushing me. ... An example (of hard work) would be we practice six days a week and two days we practice at 5:30 in the morning. And we have dry land (working out in the gym or outside). When we practice at 5:30, we go until 7, then go and get changed for school and then come back from 2:15-5.

"It does (take a lot of time), but it's really worth it. You can always see when you improve."

It is a team which East Lyme coach Jack Stabach said is likely his best since 2006, when the Vikings finished second in the Class L state meet. East Lyme swam past Fitch 103-66 Friday, pushing the Vikings to 4-1 overall, 4-0 in the ECC (East Lyme lost a nonconference meet last week to Class LL power Staples).

The Vikings got a pair of individual wins from freshman Grace Vlaun, who took the 200-yard freestyle in 2 minutes, 3.75 seconds and the 100 in 56.11 and one from classmate Ashwini Sahasrabudhe in the 100 breaststroke (1:23.19).

Gray, meanwhile, won the 200 individual medley (2:22.30) and lifted the 200 medley relay and 200 freestyle relay teams to victory. The Vikings also had individual wins from Kate Orefice in the 50 freestyle (27.58), Mary Kathryn Taylor in the 100 butterfly (1:03.33) and Erin Munch in the 100 backstroke (1:08.29).

Katie Shaughnessy (diving) and Alyson Lowney (500 freestyle) won individual events for Fitch (3-1, 3-1), with Lowney edging East Lyme's Maeve Counter by less than a second in the closest race of the day.

"I can see them trying to work to their potential; that's their job," Stabach said. "It's kind of fun to come to practice. They're always looking at you for help. They want to ask you questions. ... Their own personalities click. They click. They like each other. They encourage each other. You saw them there. They're all cheering and it's like that in practice too."

"It's rigorous, but really fun," said Vlaun, who is the third member of her family to swim for Stabach. "You feel accomplished. You can break your times and continue to get faster."

For Fitch coach Brandon Biondi, in his first season replacing longtime coach Ken Berg, he didn't have far to travel for the meet.

Biondi is a 2013 East Lyme graduate, where he was a member of the Vikings' ECC champion boys' swim team, and is currently the aquatics coordinator at the East Lyme Aquatics and Fitness Center. Biondi shares an office with Stabach, the CEO of the Aquatics Center, and served as Stabach's assistant coach through last season.

"It is," said Biondi, asked whether it was strange to coach against East Lyme. "But it was exciting to see all the girls race and do well. (Fitch) has a lot of girls that have worked hard. It's been a pretty exciting transition. I've enjoyed the season so far. I think we've all gotten along very well."

Biondi, also the New London High boys' swim coach during the winter, said Fitch was missing several swimmers Thursday due to illness.

"We did our lineups together today," Stabach said with a laugh, his desk a few feet from Biondi's. "He's still a 'good guy.' He's helping the kids (at Fitch). He's doing a good job. I wrote him a recommendation."

v.fulkerson@theday.com