Above, Co-Captain Chris Xia ’23 swims breaststroke against Deerfield.
Andover Boys Swimming & Diving dominated Deerfield 107-58 on Saturday. With first-place finishes in diving and in 12 out of the 14 swimming events, the meet served as a major confidence boost for the team, which will head to the Eastern Interscholastic Swimming and Diving Championships (Eastern’s) in two weeks.
With less than half the season left, Sam Lee ’24 commended the team for its growth thus far. With a 5-1 record prior to Saturday’s meet, Deerfield proved to be an adequate challenge Andover needed to prepare for the team’s upcoming competitions.
“At the end of the day, we love racing… [We are] doing the best we can and encouraging others to do the best that they can, too. We were looking forward to the Deerfield meet because we saw it as another opportunity to get faster and prove how far we’ve come. And I think the results really show that we’ve come a long way from the beginning of the season and that we’ve improved a lot,” said Lee.
Participating in the 200-Medley Relay, 200 IM Relay, 400-Free Relay, and diving events, Marek Deveau ’23 credited the victory to the team’s hard work during practices. Deveau hopes the diving team will continue working on new skills in preparation for the upcoming meet against Loomis Chaffee (Loomis).
“This week, our main focus was our back dives. So every person on the dive team had to perform at least two dives that were in the backwards direction. And, I mean, we practiced all week. We were getting our practice in, and we all did pretty well in the meet as well. So we’re looking forward to the meet in two weeks against Loomis,” said Deveau.
Deveau is the only person on the team who both swims and dives. With just one season of diving experience, Deveau was supported by Head Coach David Fox and Diving Coach Belinda Canavan to officially compete in both events at this meet.
“It’s just a great environment. I’m happy to be able to help the team out, earn some points in diving and swimming. It’s pretty cool because there’s not too many people who have done that in the past. So I’m happy that I’m able to do that. And [I] thank Coach Fox and Coach Belinda [for letting] me do that [and] practice with both teams,” said Deveau.
Lee acknowledged the efforts of Pippin Kantakom ’25. Despite being new to Andover’s team, Kantakom’s recent successes has reflected his commitment and determination throughout this season, according to Lee.
“Pippin has been doing really well this year, especially. He’s coming into this [as a] new Lower, and it’s amazing to see him doing so well. And in all of these events, I think last meet he won the 200 IM. And this week he won the 200-yard Freestyle and the 100-yard Backstroke. And I’m really proud of him,” said Lee.
In the upcoming weeks, the team will compete in the Andover/Exeter meet, Eastern’s, and the New England Preparatory School Swimming Association Championships (NEPSSAC). Co-Captain Trey Wolfe ’23 shared his excitement for the New Englands, which will take place at the Pan Athletic Center for the first time.
“I feel really good. I know we have three big championship meets. Exeter, Eastern’s, and then we have [NEPSSAC], which will be hosted here actually, which is really cool because that’s the first time that’s happened in my time here. I think we’re just going to continue working hard and stay on the right track. I think we’re doing a good job so far, and if we keep doing what we’re doing, we should be able to confirm,” said Wolfe.
Andover Boys Swimming and Diving will compete against Loomis next Saturday.
