Andover Boys Swimming broke 10 records on Saturday en route to a 119-66 thrashing of rival Exeter and another undefeated regular season.
“This past meet against Exeter was unique in my four years here at Andover,” said Co-Captain Lorenzo Conte ’12. “We all felt a part of something bigger than us–a century of swimming at PA. While the stands were packed and it was a special meet, we gave our best as we do at every meet and maintained our focus.”
Before the meet, Andover celebrated the 100th season of its storied program with an alumni meet and a memory-filled dinner. Numerous alumni and nine former and current coaches also supported Andover during its win against Exeter.
Setting a dominant tone, Andover’s focused and dominant 200 Medley Relay team set a pool record and an Andover/Exeter record as Co-Captain Derrick Choi ’12, Didi Peng ’12, Tim Wynter ’14 and Michael Camarda ’14 raced to a time of 1:35.64.
Jun Oh ’12 followed suit by breaking his own pool and Andover/Exeter records for the 200 Freestyle from last season. He won the event with an impressive time of 1:42.60.
The first half of the meet drew to a close when Kade Call ’14 finished third in the diving event with a score of 134.85. At that point, Andover led Exeter 46-31.
In the second half of the meet, Wynter proceeded with another record-breaking performance in the 100 Butterfly, finishing at a new pool record of 51.81. Oh then triumphed in the 500 Freestyle, finishing in 4:42.74.
In the 100 Backstroke, Wynter established a school and an Andover/Exeter record with a finish in 50.68. Andover great T.J. Durkin ’99 had held the record since 1999, and congratulated Wynter after watching the race from the front row of the stands.
Andover officially seized the meet with Peng’s win in the 100 Backstroke at 1:01.77, but that did not stop the 400 Freestyle Relay squad of Joe Faller ’14, Wynter, Oh and Camarda from shattering a final Andover/Exeter record pool record with a time of 3:10.80.
“With that fitting end to Andover’s third consecutive undefeated dual meet season—and fourth consecutive undefeated dual meet season in league competition—Andover sets its sights on the New England Swimming and Diving Championships next Saturday at Exeter and retains its focus on putting together its best possible performances that day,” said Head Coach David Fox.
Regardless of the result at New Englands this coming weekend, the team’s tremendous success this season is a testament to the hard work and improvement of its members.
Conte explained, “I am honored to be a part of this team–the caliber and talent of my teammates amazes me. There is a persistent feeling of encouragement and support that is shared between swimmers, something that sets this team apart. The work ethic and drive of our team is unique and that stems from the examples individuals set, as well as the standards expected by our coaches. We are a team. Individually, we race each other and compete to the best of our ability; in the end, each swimmer is able to take joy in the successes of his teammates.”
