Andover Girls Swimming kept up its consistency against Deerfield this Saturday and managed to steal the lead and win 91-87 in its closest meet of the season. “In meets against strong teams like Deerfield, the team that wins has the best depth rather than the most first place finishes,” said Amy Zhao ’14. “I think we topped Deerfield because we have the team that prides itself on depth.” Zhao swam in the first race of the day, the 200 Medley Relay, with teammates Kaitlin Simpson ’14, Danielle Liu ’14 and Elizabeth Duserick ’16. Andover pulled in first with a time of 1:52.40. In the 200 Free, Simpson, Julia Smachlo ’13 and Captain Lucy Frey ’13 went 1-2-4 with times of 1:58.09, 1:58.67 and 2:06.80, respectively. Andover placed first again in the 200 Individual Medley with a 2:08.02 swim from Danielle Liu. Zhao kept up the momentum and won the 50 Free with a time of 24.78, followed by Duserick in second. In the 100 Fly, Zhao, Lauren Conte ’14 and Amelia Danovitch ’13 each swam their season bests, coming in first, second and fourth with times of 58.18, 1:03.36 and 1:08.36, respectively. Zhao said, “I think the team swam wonderfully yesterday, with amazing swims across the board. We had a lot of season bests, which is great at this time of year; we are in the midst of tough training and getting back in the water after a long weekend, so the speed we showed on Saturday was an indicator of awesome times to come.“ She added, “Going forward, I think we could improve on race technique. It’s still early in the season, and that comes with practice racing. With three more meets to go, I am pretty confident the girls will do great.” In Diving, Captain Lilybet MacRae ’13 placed first with a score of 294.95. In the 100 Free, Simpson placed first with a time of 55.18, and Duserick placed second with a time of 58.07. In the 500 Free, Smachlo swam her season best of 5:11.33 to take first place. Hailey Novis ’13 placed third with a time of 5:32.62. Andover also had strong finishes in the 200 Free Relay. The winning team of Ren, Duserick, Simpson and Liu placed first with a time of 1:43.40 while Frey, Emily Carrolo ’13, Mary Catherine Nanda ’14 and Smachlo placed third with a time of 1:51.51. Andover is now preparing for its home meet against Hopkins tomorrow. Zhao said, “The meet against Deerfield was the toughest so far this season, but there are a few more upcoming meets that will be difficult. Hopkins, Suffield and Exeter all have great swimmers. Of the three, Suffield will probably be our strongest competitor. They have strong swimmers in all their events, but I think if we continue our speed, great team spirit and hard training we will top them on our way to Eastern Championships. “ Andover’s record is 4-0-0 so far this season, and the team looks to continue its winning record when it hosts the Hopkins School this Saturday.
