By Mike Rubin

Even in a rebuilding year, the Somerville swimming team has remained a solid competitor in the Greater Boston League. After cruising to a 93-71 win over Malden, the Highlanders suffered a tough 88-80 defeat to Malden last Wednesday to stand at 1-1 overall.

In the loss to Malden, key victories for the Highlanders were the 200-yard medley relay team, which finished with a time of 2:00.34 while Kyle Azevedo emerged as a double winner in both the 100 yard butterfly and the 500-yard freestyle events.

Roberto Duardo also captured the top prize in the 100-yard free style while the 200 and 400 yard free relay teams also cruised to victories.

“I thought we swam well,” said coach Mike Williams. “We’re a young team, and I was very happy with the times. (Kyle) did a great job and he’s off to a strong start.”

With a relatively young team to work with, Williams is well aware that there could be some retooling that comes with the season, but so far, the Highlanders have progressed rather quickly and nicely.

“It’s a long season, and we want to see where we are in the next few weeks,” said Williams. “We’re a young team, but we’re heading in the right direction.”

In its season opening win over Medford, the Highlanders emerged with victories in the 200-yard freestyle, 200-yard individual medley, the 100-yard fly, 500-yard freestyle, the 200-freestyle relay as well as the 100-yard back stroke and the 100-yard breast stroke.

Cam Kostopoulos captured the 200 individual medley en route to a time of 2:41.87 while cruising to a win in the 100-yard breast stroke with a time of 1:17.21. Azevedo also posted victories in the 500-freestyle (5:11.22) and the 100-yard butterfly (59.37).

Kostopoulos and Azevedo also served as a part of the 200-yard medley relay team that posted a winning time of 1:59.25 while Kostopoulos also served as a part of the 200-freestyle relay, which had a winning time of 2:00.25.

Key contributors for the Highlanders included Roberto Douardo in the 200-freestyle, who cruised to a winning time of 2:22.35 while Rachel Berry captured the 100-yard backstroke en route to a winning time of 1:19.84.