From first stroke to state champions, coach Sue Guertin put her stamp on Marblehead’s Division 2 girls’ swimming crown

Marblehead took its Division 2 girls' swimming trophy for a dip.Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff

Marblehead coach Sue Guertin has known most of her team since they were 3 years old at the Marblehead YMCA in learn to swim classes.

The Magicians’ swim coach since 1989, Guertin has been an instructor at the YMCA for 53 years, forging generations in the pool for the coastal town.

Behind a trio of wins by senior Clementine Robins, Marblehead earned 241 points to win the Division 2 state championship at the Zesiger Sports Center at MIT. The Magicians earned their third title in program history and first since 2016, upending reigning champion Amherst-Pelham, which finished second with 196.5 points.

“All of these kids, for years and years, are awesome because they’re disciplined, they work hard, and it shows in something like this,” said Guertin. “It’s amazing. I have the best kids ever. Marblehead is a little, tiny town, but everyone learns how to swim because we’re surrounded by water.”

Robins, a Williams College commit who holds a 4.2 GPA, started her day by winning the 200-yard freestyle in 1:52.58. The senior blew away the field by 14.05 seconds in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:06.08. She capped her final high school race by anchoring the victorious 400 freestyle relay, throwing her hands in the air and letting out a joyous scream after sealing the state title with a time of 3:39.89.

Marblehead's Clementine Robins (cq) swims the anchor leg of the winning 4x400-yard freestyle relay.Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff

Getting off to fast starts by building a quick lead, Robins’s conditioning paid dividends.

“I know that I can keep it consistent throughout and I trust that my training and the work that I put in will help me do that,” said Robins. “I really try to go out hard in the beginning so that I can continue to go hard throughout, because to finish strong, you need to have a really strong start.”

Upon jumping into the pool to join her team with the first-place trophy, Guertin wore an ear-to-ear smile, cheeringly chanting ‘M-H-S’ in unison with her athletes.

“They were saying this since our conference meet, that they wanted to win states,” said Guertin. “They had it in the back of their head. Last week, coming in third [at the North sectional] was a bit of a disappointment, so that just got them ready to move.”

Marblehead celebrates its win in the MIAA Division 2 girls' swimming & diving championship at MIT.Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff

Abreu exceeds seed

Seekonk junior Addison Abreu was the lone double winner, championing the 100 butterfly (57.01) and the 200 individual medley (2:06.24). Abreu was seeded eleventh in the individual medley and beat her seed time by 10.15 seconds.

Last week at the South sectional championships, Abreu won two different events, the 200 freestyle (1:54.54) and the 100 freestyle (51.38).

“It’s really exciting because I can see all the hard work that I’ve put into training all year pay off and it feels good to see that all the work has a purpose and a good outcome behind it,” said Abreu.

MIAA Division 2 Championship

at MIT

 200 medley relay — 1. Amherst-Pelham, 1:50.89; 2. Wayland, 1:51.91; 3. Marblehead, 1:54.06.

 200 freestyle — 1. Clementine Robins, Marblehead, 1:52.58; 2. Alli Brown, Duxbury, 1:55.85; 3. Lydia Craft, Seekonk, 1:57.95.

 200 IM — 1. Addison Abreu, Seekonk, 2:06.24; 2. Natalia Robak, Easthampton, 2:08.37; 3. Megan Nelson, Scituate, 2:13.4.

 50 freestyle — 1. Lucy Smith, Amherst-Pelham, 0:24.18; 2. Rowan Albertson, Amherst-Pelham, 0:24.34; 3. Isabella Zeppa, Monson, 0:24.75.

 Diving — 1. Olivia Templeton, Duxbury, 492.450 points; 2. Brenna Short, Marshfield, 488.550; 3. Grace Bloom, Dedham, 443.350.

 100 butterfly — 1. Addison Abreu, Seekonk, 0:57.01; 2. Sydney Abild, Northampton, 0:58.2; 3. Lilah Doherty, Longmeadow, 0:58.36.

 100 freestyle — 1. Natalia Robak, Easthampton, 0:53; 2. Lucy Smith, Amherst-Pelham, 0:53.04; 3. Alli Brown, Duxbury, 0:53.52.

 500 freestyle — 1. Clementine Robins, Marblehead, 5:06.08; 2. Jenna Whitaker, Triton, 5:20.13; 3. Meredith Brown, Duxbury, 5:20.33.

 200 freestyle relay — 1. Wayland, 1:41.21; 2. Marblehead, 1:41.33; 3. Weston, 1:41.98.

 100 backstroke — 1. Abriana Cronstrom, Triton, 0:59.27; 2. Rowan Albertson, Amherst-Pelham, 0:59.45; 3. Shauna Harney, Canton, 0:59.86.

 100 breaststroke — 1. Sydney Abild, Northampton, 1:04.2; 2. Bella Takata, Marblehead, 1:07.25; 3. Nora Herbstzuber, Medfield, 1:08.8.

 400 freestyle relay — 1. Marblehead, 3:39.89; 2. Amherst-Pelham, 3:42.13; 3. Duxbury, 3:44.59.

 Team results — 1. Marblehead, 241; 2. Amherst-Pelham, 196.5; 3. Duxbury, 184; 4. Wayland, 168.5; 5. Weston, 140.5.