After weeks of brutal training and a preliminary warm up meet, Andover Boys Swimming is ready for another successful season. Co-Captains Curtis Hon ’10 and Conor McAuliffe ’10 and Coach Hugon have high hopes for the team. Complementing 16 returning lettermen, new additions to the team consist of Andrew Wilson ’12, Andrew Xuan ’13, Jun Oh ’12, Didi Peng ’12, and Nick Camarda ’12. Camarda, who had missed much of tryouts due to an elbow injury, is slowly recovering, and hopes to be able to swim against Choate next weekend. When asked about the newcomers, Hon said, “They are a great addition to the team. With the depth they provide, we hope to have a very successful season with strong finishes in the championships.” The newcomers hope to fill the void left by the departure of the Seniors from last year. The gaps left by Co-Captains Brendan Deveney ’09 and Steven Lee-Kramer ’09 will be especially tough positions to fill, as Deveney and three of the current swimmers set a school record in the 400 freestyle relay while Lee-Kramer led the team in the 50 freestyle. Said McAullife, “We will need to work hard to make up for what we lost, but with the addition of the many swimmers, we should be able to improve on last year’s season.” The team swam well at the annual Blue and White meet, an intrasquad meet designed to prepare the team for meet-styled racing. After the meet. Coach Hugon said, “Our team should be strong across all events, and feature some of the better depth and breadth of talent in the league this year again.” With the addition of Oh, the team strengthened its 500 and 200 freestyle, as McAuliffe and Oh both hope to score in top-16 in championships, while Oh may break the school record in both events. Said Hon, “The 500 free should be one of our strongest events, as the addition of Jun [Oh] allows us to have 2 of the league’s best swimmers for this event.” Peng and Wilson hope to contribute in the 100 breaststroke, providing depth and strength, as the combination of these newcomers along with Matt Mahoney ’11 and Hon should make this event one of the team’s strongest. The team expects to succeed in the 100 backstroke as well, as Derrick Choi ’12, Conor Deveney ’11, Ben Morris ’11, and the addition of Xuan gives the team several top-16 times for this event. The team also hopes to perform well in the 50 free and 100 fly. Camarda looks to have an impressive 50 freestyle time if he can stay healthy, and the team has immense depth in the 100 meter fly, as Alex Smachlo ’11, Jimmy Brenner ’10, and Morris hope to contribute in the championships in this event. The team continues to train hard and looks forward to its first meet against Choate this weekend.
