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WATCH: GMC athlete's 'absolutely incredible' act of sportsmanship

Greg Tufaro
@GregTufaro
The GMC first place 100 meter backstroke medal is held by Metuchen swimmer Michael Spark and Monroe's Rich Fortels, Monday, February 8, 2016, at Monroe Township High School in Monroe.

In an act of sportsmanship one league official described as “absolutely incredible,” Metuchen High School senior Michael Spark presented his Greater Middlesex Conference Championships first-place medal to the swimmer he believes is “its rightful owner.”

Spark finished second in the 100 backstroke at the Jan. 29 conference championships to Latvian-born Rich Fortels of Monroe, who broke a 14-year-old meet record in the event only to have his 51.30-second time nullified on a technical rules violation that state Sen. Samuel Thompson, 12th legislative district, called “absurd.”

After learning that conference officials last week rejected the appeal of Monroe on behalf of Fortels, who was disqualified for wearing his Peddie Aquatics club team swim cap that did not give him a competitive advantage, Spark, who was awarded first place during the Jan. 29 meet, went to Monroe High School on Monday to present Fortels with his championship medal.

“You beat me fair and square,” Spark said during a meeting with Fortels in Monroe Athletics Director Greg Beyer’s office. “You broke the meet record. You proved to everyone that you are the better athlete and the better swimmer. You were the clear winner. You beat me by three seconds. You deserve all the recognition. I want you to take this.”

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Conference president Carl Buffalino, who said the league’s executive committee, which reviewed Monroe’s appeal and had no recourse but to uphold the National Federation of High School Associations rules, called Spark’s act of sportsmanship “absolutely incredible.”

“Winning is great, but one of the core values as educators that we try to teach our student-athletes is sportsmanship and doing what’s right,” Buffalino said. “Today, Michael is my hero, because he did what’s right.”

An ESL student who last year moved to the United States to live with his mother after growing up on his grandfather’s farm in Latvia, Fortels initially did not want to accept Spark’s medal, politely stating: “I want to thank you, but I cannot accept the medal because it is not recognized.”

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Fortels was alluding to the fact that possessing Spark’s medal would not alter the conference 100 backstroke meet record of 2002 Bishop Ahr High School graduate Jon Van Assen, which still stands following Fortels’ disqualification, nor would it remove the letters “DQ” that appear next to Fortels’ name on the official 2016 championship meet results.

“You, me and other swimmers in that event, we understand the rule,” Fortels said regarding the spirit of its application, “but the adults and officials, they do not understand it.”

Monroe swimmer Rich Fortels, left, and Metuchen swimmer Michael Spark discuss their GMC medal controversy, Monday, February 8, 2016, at Monroe Township High School in Monroe.

After Spark reiterated his stance, concluding an impassioned plea with the words, “I want you to take this,” Fortels graciously obliged, accepting the encased first-place medal bearing the conference’s official insignia and accompanying red, white and blue ribbon.

The rival competitors, who first met in the warm-down pool immediately following the GMC 100 backstroke, of which Spark was the defending champion, then shook hands and exchanged a hug.

Fortels said he has had difficulty making friends since moving to the United States. He exchanged cell phone numbers with Spark and the two promised to stay in touch. “This is not our last meeting, definitely,” Fortels said.

“The biggest challenge first of all was the language,” Fortels said of living in a new country. “The challenge that is still going on is to meet the friends and everything else because I see here a lot of friendly people, but it’s hard for me because they are not the guys from my country, from Latvia, who accepted me since childhood.”

Fortels’ guidance counselor, Michele Rockoff, attended the conference championships at the Perth Amboy YMCA and watched Fortels win the 100 freestyle. Apparently, no meet officials noticed Fortels wearing the exact same Peddie Aquatics swim cap in that event, thus his time of 46.73, just .22 seconds shy of a meet record, stands. The officials caught the rules violation four events later during the 100 backstroke. Rockoff said she believes Spark’s gesture will help Fortels move on from the disqualification.

“He has come so far,” Rockoff said of Fortels. “Last year was overwhelming with the change in environment and the academic load. He’s on the honor roll now. He had goals when he came, but now he can see a future ahead. Besides the academics, he’s changed as a person. He came with what might have looked like an arrogance because of the change in environment. He just wasn’t sure what Americans were all about, and now he’s immersed in our school, his club team and in our society. He’s doing absolutely terrific, so I am very proud of him.”

Of Spark’s gesture, Frank Noppenberger, a longtime athletics administrator from East Brunswick who has been a part of the GMC since its inception in 1986 and currently serves as the conference’s executive director, said he “can’t recall something like this happening in my 30-something years.”

“Hopefully, this is something that other athletes will see and understand," Noppenberger said. "It’s about time we hear something positive from the athletic world – from high school to professional – about the value of sports and what you get out of it.”

Fortels competed in the conference championship meet, as permitted under league rules, as an independent. Because Monroe does not field a swim team, it has no caps or suits to issue its GMC championship meet entrants. Had Fortels simply turned his club swim team cap inside out to conceal the Peddie Aquatics logo, he would not have been disqualified from the 100 backstroke, in which he swam the second fastest time posted in the state this season, Buffalino said.

Traci Rickert, a boys track and field coach at Monroe, accompanied Fortels to the meet and served as his school board-approved volunteer mentor. She participated in a meeting with other coaches and meet officials prior to the championships, at which time all were told swimmers needed to be properly attired. Acting tournament director Karl Miran said he did not believe the swim cap issue was “specifically addressed” at that time. He said it is also unclear how well versed Rickert, who swam collegiately at Lehigh University, may have been in the official NFHS rule book, which includes six detailed pages on uniforms.

Assemblyman Patrick Diegnan, D-Middlesex, who chairs the state Assembly Education Committee, said Spark's gesture, “Clearly shows the character of this young man, which comes along with the true meaning of sportsmanship that teaches character and doing the right thing. This is above and beyond. This young man is a role model for everybody to follow, adults and children alike.”

Thompson called the club team swim cap rule that disqualified Fortels “absurd” and said he believes the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletics Association should ask the national federation to alter its rules to ensure that meet officials determine a swimmer is properly attired before starting a race.

“They (meet officials) should have told him beforehand to turn his cap inside out,” said Thompson, adding that he will consider introducing legislation to alter the rule “if the association does not remedy it.”

Fortels said he hopes to study medicine and swim competitively in college. Spark said he also hopes to swim competitively in college. The high school seniors, once separated by more than 4,200 miles, are now united by a moment in time.

“I don't know if I'll ever see you again,” Beyer said to Sparks as he left the Monroe Athletics Department office, “but I’ll never forget this moment.”

Staff Writer Greg Tufaro: gtufaro@gannettnj.com