Oliver Stabach ’26 swims backstroke in the 100-Yard Backstroke event on Saturday.
Saturday 1/27 – Andover: 106, Deerfield: 75
Tuesday 1/30 – Andover: 107, Westford: 61
Andover Boys Swimming and Diving (5-0) raced on Saturday and Tuesday against Deerfield and Westford Academy (Westford) respectively. With a long bus ride over the weekend, followed by a local meet in the Pan Athletic Center, the team was able to take two wins late in the season.
Co-Captain Ashton Ma ’24 spoke of the team’s ability to prepare for its match against Deerfield. By engaging in calming activities and giving each other space, the team effectively readied itself to compete.
“Despite being on the bus for several hours, we don’t do too much. I would say we’re all locked in but not overdoing it. We stay relaxed, and a lot of us listen to music and do a little bit of homework, but we are not really a team that needs too much energy or traditions to stay focused on swimming well,” Ma said.
General spirits were high among the team, with everyone thrilled to compete in one of the last meets of the season. Ethan Drew ’24 highlighted Oliver Stabach ’26 and Jay Wei ’27 for their excellent performance at the meet.
“Collectively, we all did very well, but one person who excelled on Saturday was Oliver Stabach in the [100-Yard Freestyle]. He surprised us with a really fast time, especially for a meet this late in the season… Jay Wei, who is a [Junior], did really well [as well],” Drew said.
Ma also mentioned Andrew Kim ’24, who raced for the first time on Saturday after his injury earlier in the season. Ma expressed his optimism and added that the team was beyond excited to see Kim succeed upon his return.
“We had Andrew Kim, who’s been injured since the beginning of the season, but he’s recently recovered and swam for us on Saturday which was his first competition back. It’s been really nice to have him back, and it was awesome to see him perform again after he swam really fast in his race,” Ma said.
On Tuesday, Andover raced at Westford at home, with several team members showcasing great performances once again. Anthony Myers ’25 shouted out Sam Lee ’24, who had just come back from being ill.
“Sam Lee had a really good meet today after having Covid-19 for the last week or so. Since he missed our meet that we had on Saturday, to return to the team and do the most challenging event at the meet and then also placing second was really admirable. It just goes to show how dedicated he is to the sport,” said Myers.
With two strong swimmers back in the pool again, Andover Boys Swimming and Diving is looking strong going into the end of the season. Since only one meet remains until Eastern’s, Ma spoke on his aspirations for the team.
“These meets are all practices for our end of season, which includes competing at Eastern’s and New England’s, so I just hope for our team to perform its best and do what they should do to prepare for the race. My biggest hope is to ensure that our team is ready to swim at a high level so we can do well in the races that are very important,” said Ma.
Myers also expressed his gratitude for the supportive environment during Tuesday’s meet at Pan. He described the surprisingly filled viewing area and how the familiar community of a home meet motivated him and the team.
“I was very happy to see the amount of people who came to support us, and I’m very thankful. Not just parents, but also faculty, coaches, [and] teachers came to support kids who they know on the team. Other students also show[ed] up to support their friends. Since the meet was on a Tuesday the crowd that showed up was really surprising. Typically the school doesn’t have any type of sports events on a Tuesday, and to still have people at our impromptu meet was really awesome. Today, I was swimming my 50-Yard Freestyle, and being around so many peers helped me go faster and reach new areas I didn’t know were possible,” said Myers.
The team is looking forward to swimming at Loomis Chaffee on Saturday.
