Clinching first place in all but one of its relays in the first home meet of the season, Andover Boys Swimming and Diving raced to an impressive 106-80 victory over Choate last Saturday. Several swimmers achieved personal records and season best times in a win that extended the team’s undefeated league record to 2-0.
“It’s great to get another win here early in the season. I think it’s representative of a tone we’re starting to set this season. We’ve got a great squad with a ton of depth, so I’m looking forward to a great season,” said Nick Isenhower ’18.
Andover roared off to a strong start with a decisive victory in the 200-Yard Medley Relay, with Co-Captain Marcello Rossi ’16, Co-Captain Darren Ty ’16, Christian Alberga ’17 and Jack Warden ’19 racing to a first-place finish with an impressive time of 1:39.61.
In the 200-Yard Freestyle Relay, Alberga, Isenhower, Rossi and Ty were merely one second away from breaking the school record, securing first place with a time of 1:28.80.
Alberga continued his success in individual events. In the 50-Yard Freestyle, Alberga notched a personal best time of 21.90 to clinch second place. Then, with a time of 48.29, he seized first place in the 100-Yard Freestyle.
Later in the meet, Ty raced to a strong first-place finish in the 100-Yard Butterfly with a time of 52.65, less than a second away from his personal best and only three seconds away from the school record.
Although several of Andover’s veteran swimmers such as Alberga and Ty recorded personal bests, the victory was a team effort rather than the result of a few strong performances.
Alberga said, “We won the meet based on both our immense depth in all events, and our stronger guys winning individual events and relays. I believe that everyone has improved since our first meet against Suffield and Peddie, which is good.”
Ty wrote in an email to The Phillipian, “I think our depth really helped us to win in the end.”
Other contributors to Andover’s success were divers Jack Belluche ’16 and Matt Grottkau ’17, who scored 218.45 and 183.40 points to place second and third, respectively.
In the 100-Yard Breaststroke, Jacob Hudgins ’19 finished with a time of 1:03.37, clinching a first place finish.
Ty said, “For this week, we look to put in some more hard work into our practices. We want to focus more on technique and basics, not just for our next meet, but also for the end of the season and New England’s.”
Andover will travel to Loomis Chaffee on Saturday, looking to continue its success.
