Swimming against Northfield Mount Hermon (NMH) in the first event of its meet, Andover Girls Swimming & Diving swept NMH, clinching first, second and third places in the 200-Yard Medley Relay. Co-Captain Sasha Newton ’16, Morgan Rooney ’17, Emma Donchi ’18 and Kathleen Ty ’19 claimed the win with a time of 1:57.20 minutes. After the score reached a margin of 90-68 in Andover’s favor, both teams agreed to stop keeping track of the competition’s score. With this victory, the team improved its record to 3-2.
In the meet, Andover’s swimmers swept the top three places in nearly every event, with the only exception being the 100-Yard Backstroke. Andover’s large lead gave many swimmers the opportunity to try new events.
Donchi wrote in an email to The Phillipian, “Going into this meet, we expected to win by a fairly large margin, so our coach encouraged us to swim events that we don’t usually compete in.”
As this was the last home meet of the season, the team’s Seniors were honored before the start of the meet.
Katherine Sweetser ’17 said, “Every year at the last home meet we recognize the Seniors before the meet starts and younger teammates will present a rose to each senior. It’s always a sweet day for the team, and it’s a way of honoring the Seniors and thanking them for all that they have contributed to the team.”
Sarah Choi ’18 wrote in an email to The Phillipian, “The last home meet against NMH was an emotional one. As a new Lower, all five seniors made me feel welcome and a part of the team. I’ve made so many memorable moments, and I can’t imagine the team without them.”
In the 200-Yard Freestyle, Andover topped NMH yet again. Elizabeth Tran ’19 and Choi placed first and second, with times of 2:01.46 and 2:11.22 minutes, respectively.
In the 500-Yard Freestyle, Jess Gearan ’18 placed first, winning the event by a massive margin of 17 seconds with a blistering time of 5:27.12.
Gearan later anchored the winning 400-Yard Freestyle Relay that also consisted of Sweetser, Tran and Allyson Ty ’18. The relay finished in a blazing time of 3:48.25 minutes, winning the event by a full 15 seconds.
Allyson Ty wrote in an email to The Phillipian, “We have a strong team right now. We push each other to do better in practice and motivate one another at meets. Improvement on our swims and times are well on the way. I’m so proud of the team.”
Andover will channel its confidence from this recent success into its meet against Deerfield’s talented team this weekend.
