Co-Captain Ethan Zhu ’26 competes in swim meet victory against Choate.
1/10: Andover: 106; Choate: 80
Boys Swimming and Diving (1-0) opened its season at home with an intense dual meet against Choate. The team secured a victory defined by fast times, exciting relays, and strong team energy, earning a score of 106-80. According to Eric Chang ’28, the team’s co-captains showed consistent support for each swimmer, generating excitement that fueled everyone to participate in the team camaraderie. In a high-energy environment, each swimmer pushed themselves to their full potential.
Elaborating on how the team was reminded of expectations, Chang mentioned avoiding careless mistakes. Each swimmer had to deal with this tense environment that often led to errors that could disqualify them.
“The meet went well overall. We scored the points we should have scored, and we generally swam good as our first meet. No silly disqualifications occurred, and we are right where we should be,” said Chang.
Chang also highlighted Lincoln Tomlinson ’27 and Co-Captain Oliver Stabach ’26 as key facilitators of the team’s performance. The pair evoked strength in other team members who hoped to emulate their energy.
“Lincoln Tomlinson was very active, always on the sidelines supporting and cheering for his teammates. Oliver Stabach as well. He split 20.50 off the 200 free relay, which was an incredible swim. That was [a] crucial moment in my opinion,” said Chang.
Bruce Xiong ’29 emphasized the support of Haoyu Zhang ’27, who energized the team through his positive words. His daily encouragement has built a foundation for teammates to offer mutual support.
“I love Haoyu’s quote of the day. He makes up very interesting quotes every practice. Very supportive. We cheer each other up during practices and meets,” said Xiong.
Chang emphasized the effort of the relay groups prior to the meet, as their practice on relay technique and speed helped to maximize their efficiency in crucial moments.
“Something that we worked on was relay starts, fast-paced and no disqualifications, and that translated pretty well. Moreover, we did some sprint work leading up to the meet… we could all benefit from more speed work,” said Chang.
Gaven Morales ’29 reflected on the team’s performance, identifying strengths to translate into future meets and weaknesses to build on during practice. Morales highlighted the importance of commitment in the meet’s results.
“For the next meet, everyone’s gonna work on going 150 percent every time and doing their best. Some of the strengths of the team were that everyone came to compete and everyone was ready to race, so no one really slouched or anything. Everyone really put up some good times, and that was good,” said Morales.
Boys Swimming and Diving looks forward to carrying their confidence into their meet against St. John’s Prep on Friday.
Andover defeated Choate by a score of 106-80.
