Coming off a nearly undefeated season, the Boys Varsity Swim and Dive team placed first at the New England Prep School Athletic Council (Nepsac) Championships bringing home their second consecutive trophy. Andover’s final record for the season was 9-1.
Neil Simpson ’19 said, “We were a very excited group going into the meet. Coming off a successful Easterns campaign the previous week in Philadelphia, we were pumped to see what we could do at Hotchkiss. Our entire season essentially led up to that point. All of the work we put in together, all of the team dinners we had shared together led up to this final championship meet. It was our last opportunity to perform at our best as a team and we did not want to disappoint.”
On the first day during the preliminary races, the boys raced their hearts off to qualify for the Sunday finals. To start off the finals, two of Andover’s relay teams placed second at the meet. of Jack Warden ’19, Neil Simpson ’19, Lance Frieman ’19, and Will Kantaros ’18 placed second going a 1:34.95. In the 200-Yard Freestyle relay, relay of Nick Isenhower ’18, Warden, Arnold Su ’20, and Captain Christian Alberga ’17 placed second with a time of 1:25.37. In the 400-Yard Freestyle relay, the final relay of the meet, Andover’s relay with Isenhower, Su, Simpson, Alberga placed third with a time of 3:05.79.
Isenhower said, “The meet was a success. We continued to have time drops, even after Easterns the week before. We came together well as a team and executed. Relays continued to be a strong suit which is a testament to the depth of our team.”
Andover had multiple record breaking performances from its underclassmen at the meet. In the 200-Yard Freestyle, Arnold Su ’20 broke the Junior record with a time of 1:42.15. In the 200-Yard Individual Medley, Neil Simpson broke the 14-year-old Lower record with a time of 1:52.36. In the 50-Yard Freestyle, Jack Warden ’19 broke the Lower record in the prelims with a time of 21.83.
For the 100-Yard Butterfly, Adam Vlasic ’20 broke the Junior record with a time of 51.23. Another Junior, Anthony Minickiello ’20 broke his class record in the 500-Freestyle with a time of 4:42.77. Junior Sam Donchi ’20 also broke his class record in the 100-Yard Backstroke racing a time of 53.86 in the finals.
When asked about his first Nepsac experience, Donchi said, “Going in I was not quite sure what to expect. I had been told it was similar to a typical club meet but I was still skeptical. Looking back on it, I can confirm that it was quite similar. There were lots of fast swimmers and it was really cool to race in such a competitive environment. It was really nice to share my first Nepsac experience with such a wonderful team.”
Nick Eisenhower ’18 also had a fantastic performance in the 100-Yard Freestyle. Swimming with a time of 46.29, Isenhower placed in third and was holds the second fastest time for school history in the event.
In the 400-Yard Freestyle relay Andover earned an automatic All-American Time with the team of Captain Christian Alberga ’17, Su, Simpson, and Isenhower. Also during the meet Andover earned 3 considerations for All American times in the 100-Yard Breaststroke, 200-Yard Freestyle Relay, and 200-Yard Medley Relay.
Describing his feelings after the meet, Simpson said, “This season may be over, but we are far from finished. We will be back next year, ready to work even harder to strive to make our school, and ourselves proud.”
