The inaugural Essex County Swimming Championship was held in 1965. It was a boys championship; the girls meet would not be added until 1974.
The original 11 events were: 200 Medley Relay, 200 Freestyle, 50 Freestyle, 200 IM, Diving, 100 Butterfly, 100 Freestyle, 100 Backstroke, 400 Freestyle, 100 Breaststroke, 200 Freestyle Relay.
Medals are awarded to the top 6 finishers in individual events and the top 3 finishers in relay events.
Team Scoring was based on the top 6 places per event.
Special thanks to Bruce Johnson, the great New Jersey High School swimming historian, for providing me with the results that he had compiled from 1965-1996. I have added results from 1997 to the present from my time as meet director - Joe Alexander
The top 6 places for each event have been preserved, but only the first place times have been saved.
Feb 20, 1965 – at Newark Academy
Boys
200 Medley Relay – 1. Newark Academy (Bob Wells, Howard Dimond, John McCoubrey, Chase Sanderson), 1:51.7 2. Columbia 3. Montclair 4. Livingston 5. St. Benedict’s 6. Weequahic.
200 Freestyle – 1. Ken Price, Newark Academy, 1:59.7 2. Tichenor, Columbia 3. Menyharth, Montclair 4. Genser, Columbia 5. Lindstrom, West Orange 6. Grindlinger, Weequahic.
50 Freestyle – 1. Steve Fischer, Weequahic, 23.3 2. Connors, Newark Academy 3. Murray, Essex Catholic 4. Schwartz, Columbia 5. Renz, Columbia 6. Lemke, Livingston.
200 IM – 1. Brant Switzler, Montclair Academy, 2:11.1 2. Sedgley, West Orange 3. Pearl, Columbia 4. Marek, Newark Academy 5. Balchunas, Newark Academy 6. Keller, Montclair.
Diving – 1. Don Orlovsky, Newark Academy, 271.25 2. Alvarez, Newark Academy 3. Leone, Newark Academy 4. Read, Columbia 5. Vandersleen, Montclair 6. Caren, Columbia.
100 Butterfly – 1. Dave Pearl, Columbia, 59.9 2. McCoubrey, Newark Academy 3. Stetson, Columbia 4. Nadelberg, Columbia 5. Reickle, St. Benedict’s 6. Ward, Vailsburg.
100 Freestyle – 1. Dan Connors, Newark Academy, 52.1 2. Schwartz, Columbia 3. Lindstrom, West Orange 4. Simkowitz, Weequahic 5. Gruber, Weequahic 6. Alston, Columbia.
100 Backstroke – 1. Brant Switzler, Montclair Academy, 1:00.0 2. Sedgley, West Orange 3. Pearlmutter, Columbia and Kenny, St. Benedict’s 5. McAniff, Essex Catholic. No Sixth.
400 Freestyle – 1. Ken Price, Newark Academy, 4:32.1 2. Tichenor, Columbia 3. Marek, Newark Academy 4. Stetson, Columbia 5. Drew, West Orange 6. Grindlinger, Weequahic.
100 Breaststroke – 1. Gabor Menyharth, Montclair, 1:07.0 2. Allen, Montclair 3. Moir, Montclair Academy 4. Hawkey, West Orange 5. Dowd, Livingston 6. Dimond, Newark Academy.
200 Freestyle Relay – 1. Weequahic (Steve Fischer, Dave Simkowitz, Glenn Gruber, Gary Kabot), 1:37.1 2. Columbia 3. Newark Academy 4. Montclair 5. St. Benedict’s 6. West Orange.
Team Scores:
1. Columbia 72.5*
2. Newark Academy 79*
3. Montclair 33
4. Weequahic 28
5. West Orange 25
6. Montclair Academy 18
7. St. Benedict's 13.5
8. Livingston 9
9. Essex Catholic 6
10. Vailsburg 1
* - Sometime after the meet, Newark Academy was found to have used ineligible (8th grade) swimmers. As a result, Columbia was declared the winner.