Arnold Su ’20 broke the Junior 100-Yard Breaststroke record with a time of 58.64 seconds in the toughest meet of the season for Andover Boys Swimming & Diving, helping Andover defeat Suffield 101-85 this Saturday. However, the team fell to Peddie 97-83, which brought its record to 3-1.
Captain Christian Alberga ’17 said, “We only had five days to practice together before the meet and we are all at different stages of our fitness and performance right now. We were eager to race Peddie and Suffield because we knew that there would be some tough competition. We are still in the midst of heavy training and school work, so we went to the meet tired but ready to race.”
Andover routed its opponents in two out of its three relays against Suffield and Peddie.
Andover’s fastest relay, the 200-Yard Medley with Jack Warden ’19, Neil Simpson ’19, Su, and Alberga, won with a time of 1:35.70 minutes.
Andover also performed well in single events like the 50-Yard Freestyle and 100-Yard Freestyle. Alberga placed second in both events with times of 21.92 and 48.14 seconds. In the 50-Yard Freestyle, Will Kantaros ’18 placed third with a time of 22.94 seconds, and Lance Frieman ’19 placed fourth with a time of 23.25 seconds. Nick Isenhower ’18 also swam the 100-Yard Freestyle, placing third with a time of 49.47 seconds.
Anthony Minickiello ’20 and Isenhower had standout individual performances in Saturday’s meet. In a test of endurance, Minickiello placed third in the 500-Yard Freestyle, racing in 4:53.43 minutes. Isenhower and Minickiello also placed third and fourth in the 200-Yard Freestyle with times of 1:46.71 and 1:50.11 minutes, respectively.
Underclassmen, including Warden, Adam Vlasic ’20, and Sam Donchi ’20, also had successful races. Warden placed second in the 100-Yard Backstroke and third in the 200-Yard Individual Medley. Vlasic and Donchi secured first and second place in the 100-Yard Butterfly, respectively.
Diving also contributed to Andover’s meet success. Matthew Grottkau ’17 placed third with 198.30 points, and Ryan Goggins ’18 placed fifth, scoring 120.30 points.
Andover maintained elevated spirits throughout the meet despite swimming against tough opposition.
In an email to The Phillipian, Ryuta Ono ’19 said, “During the break, [Head Coach David Fox] gave us a speech, and it really boosted the energy level. Everyone started cheering and motivated us to swim fast.”
After experiencing its first taste of real competition, Andover is now gearing its training towards the Nepsac meet.
“In preparation for [Northfield Mount Hermon (NMH)], we will be focusing on maintaining healthy training habits in a constant effort to improve,” wrote Simpson in an email to The Phillipian. “Our primary focus for this season is to swim fast at our championship meets taking place at the end of February and beginning of March. We will take advantage of this meet as another opportunity to practice racing, so we are ready come Eastern’s and New England’s.”
This Friday, Andover will face off against St. John’s Prep, followed by NMH on Saturday.
