Kendall MacRae ’11 shattered the 25 year-old diving record on Saturday with a score of 267 points. “During the meet I tried not to think about breaking the record, but just diving my best,” said MacRae. “After my first few dives went well, I knew in the back of my mind that breaking the record was within reach. Interestingly, I actually did not do my hardest dives, but competed with a few of my less difficult dives, which I felt more confident doing.” MacRae’s record mirrored the many exciting races in Saturday’s meet. Peyton Morss ’10 said, “This was an interesting meet for us, because we were able to compete in events that are not our best, events that we usually can’t do because we need to ensure a win. This yielded some exciting, and in some cases surprising, results,” Mr. Murphy wanted to give the seniors a chance to swim in as many events as they could since this was their last home meet. This shifted the lineup around, and allowed many swimmers to experiment with new events. Fortunately, Andover adjusted successfully to this modified line-up and managed to beat NMH 95-72. Lexi Moroney ’11, Morss, and Julia Smachlo ’12 finished first, second and third place in the 200 freestyle, respectively, although neither of them had competed in that event this season. Andover also swept the 200 IM, with Theresa Faller ’11, Emily Timm ’11, and Juliana Reider ’10 placing first, second and third, respectively. Hailey Novis ’13 once again won the 50 freestyle, followed closely by Julia Torabi ’12 in second and Katie Fanikos ’11 in fourth. NMH does not have a diving team, so Andover automatically won the diving event. MacRae’s performance received an enthusiastic applause from spectators, who did not anticipate her record-breaking performance. MacRae missed the record by just one point last year in the meet against Exeter. MacRae said, “After finishing one point shy of the pool record in our meet last year against Exeter, I was even more determined this year. I have been working really hard this season and it felt great to have that effort pay off.” After diving, Morss, who is a sprint freestyle, tore through the 100 butterfly and finished third, only two second behind Lydia Azaret ’12, who won the event. In the 500 freestyle, Molly Levene ’12, Elizabeth Carrolo ’11 and Jen Oesterling ’10 all swam the 500 for the first time this season, and finished first, third and fourth, respectively. Although Andover did not gain points in any other events during the meet, the team swam exceptionally, especially considering the rigorous training of the preceding week. Coming off its record-breaking and final home meet against NMH, Andover will travel to take Deerfield this Saturday.
