Andover Girls Swimming and Diving (1-0) opened their 2025 schedule with a commanding performance on Saturday. With a final score of 110-75 against Choate, the team secured a win at its first away meet of the season.
Katherine Feng ’27 recounted the team’s practices leading up to the meet, focusing on preparing for specific events and refining their techniques. The team hoped they could use practice to help make every swimmer feel confident in their events.
“We did a lot of IM, which is like an individual medley; a medley which is butterfly, then backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle. Because a lot of swimmers were swimming the 200 IM that weekend, we also did some relay starts at the very end [of practice] on Friday to prepare for the meet the next day,” said Feng.
Caroline Romano ’26 highlighted the performances of swimmers Hannah Song ’27, Aimee Qi ’27, and Madelyn Esposito ’27, who excelled in the competition with impressive races in the long-distance events.
“They all swam really well, and they [swept] in the [200-meter freestyle]; they went first, second, and third, so that was really great. They definitely stood out because that was the first individual event [of the meet], so it set a good tone for the rest of the meet,” said Romano.
Feng described the relays as an exciting opportunity for the team to show their individual skills while also working together. The collaborative relays, along with the crowd, pushed them through the water with strength.
“Definitely the relays and because everyone was still tired from practice before, so the relays were a fun time where you don’t have to put all the pressure on yourself, and the whole team could come together and carry each other into the finish,” said Feng.
According to Chloe Ru ’27, Choate welcomed the team, upholding a positive atmosphere with encouraging sportsmanship.
“[At] Choate, their team [and] everyone was really supportive of each other. We had really good sportsmanship, and Choate would congratulate us, and we would talk and say ‘good job’ to each other,” said Ru.
Feng also highlighted Choate’s coach and a wholesome conclusion to the meet.
“The atmosphere was very friendly because the Choate coach was very nice. He would yell out ‘Good job team!’ every time someone swam and at the end of each heat. At the end of the whole meet, [each team] got into a line, and we high-fived the other team,” said Feng.
Ru highlighted the team’s initial concerns upon arrival: the Choate pool was measured in meters, as opposed to the yards that the team was accustomed to training in at Andover. The team had to conform to this challenge quickly.
“I think it was just really hard for us because Choate has a different type of pool than what we usually train in. So we needed to adapt a lot,” said Ru.
Looking ahead to upcoming meets, including the Eastern Interscholastic Swimming and Diving championship, Romano explains that small details can make all the difference during a race. Coming back from break, technique will continue to be a focus for the team, along with building up fitness.
“We’re definitely going to continue building our fitness, and that will also start by emphasizing turns more because we all know that’s something we can all work on to help our performance as a whole. But yes, we are working on kind of just getting back to it,” said Romano.
Andover will host a tri-meet on Saturday, competing against Suffield Academy and Loomis Chaffee.
