If you think about it, it was actually quite courteous of Suffield and Williston to agree to a tri-meet with Andover. With this double meet set up, the Big Blue did not have to waste two weekends traveling to Connecticut to stomp all over the poor Suffield and Williston teams. Going into the meet Coach Hugon had to rework the line up because, due to the format of the competition, each team was only allowed to have two entries per event. From the very beginning of the meet, the Andover squad dominated like the true champions they are. Although the boys knew that neither Suffield nor Williston would be a challenge to defeat, the Boys in Blue still stood up and turned in some respectable performances. Starting the day off on a strong note was Tom Lesnick ’05, Jeff Zhou ’06, Dave Hill ’03, and Paull Randt ’04 in a powerful 200 medley relay that beat the rest of the field by over three seconds in a time of 1:44.47. Lesnick, who has been quite sick lately, then turned right around and swam the 200 freestyle. Though he put forth much effort, Lesnick was unable to hold off the Williston swimmer and touched second with a time of 1:53.36. Another strong competitor at the meet was Co-captain Brian Fiske ’03, who was also feeling under the weather. His first event was the 100 butterfly in which he absolutely wrecked the rest of the heat with a time of 54.86. Fiske also swam the 100 breaststroke and managed to break the twenty-one year old pool record with a time of 57.96. His time was also less than a second off of his New England Prep record which is a good sign – if he is swimming this fast mid-season he will most likely surpass his previous bests come championship time. Of his co-captain, Dave Hill ’03 said, “Fiske proved himself a true manimal this weekend, crushing the pool record in the 100 breaststroke and winning the event with full seconds to spare, and all the while battling off a bad case of Shingles!” Quick to give out praise, Hill also deserves recognition for his valiant effort in the 200 IM. Coach Hugon called the 200 IM the “tightest and fastest race of the day,” and indeed it was. Both Suffield and Williston staked the event, but Hill was able to take second place from the Williston swimmer with a time of 2:02.45. On the race, Hill later said, panting, “I was really upset when he was still there on the breaststroke leg!” The 50 freestyle was also one of the major events of the meet. Freshmen sensation Jeff Zhou ’06 won the event with a time of 23.71 and was closely followed by team mate Paull Randt ’04, who came in third place against Williston and second against Suffield with his time of 23.90. JC MacMillan ’03 had an impressive meet as the Big Blue’s sole male diver. Diving against a competitor who beat him last year at Interschols, JC was quite excited to finish first over the divers from both Suffield and Williston. Paull Randt stressed how serious the meet against Exeter will be when he said, “I think that after 23 years of waiting, the time is finally come for this Andover team to beat Exeter, and I know we can, because we have the heart and the skill. Now all we need is the fans.”
