Girls Swimming and Diving cheer each other during the 200-Yard Individual Medley.
1/17 Andover: 108 – Suffield: 75
1/17 Andover: 105 – Loomis: 81
Girls Swimming and Diving took home wins over Suffield and Loomis Chaffee (Loomis) this Saturday. The swimming team extended its unbeaten streak to 2–0. This particular meet was highly important to sharpen its skills ahead of the Easterns Championships, the most anticipated meet of the season, coming up in the next few weeks. Divers also dominated the competitive field, earning top honors in each category.
Regardless of the sport, preparation is key to a team’s success throughout a season. The team hosted practices not only during the school week, but also over the weekend. Swimmer Tina Jin ’29 further elaborated on how this preparation carried the team to its win against Suffield and Loomis.
“We have been training pretty hard since the beginning of this season, so we have been having practices basically every day. There are some Saturday practices, and we have also been doing some pretty long and hard sets recently. Going into the meet, we were prepared,” said Jin.
Chloe Ru ’27 detailed how her teammate’s actions positively impact the team’s overall performance. She especially highlighted the impact of mood in the locker room before a meet and how it can determine results.
“We always have a team meeting before every single meet where we gather, and Coach [Hillary] Kavanagh gives us a motivational speech. The atmosphere is really supportive, and everyone always cheers for each other. Before this meet, we all gathered for a meeting just to talk about race strategies and just having fun,” said Ru.
Despite the win, the team experienced some difficulties throughout the meet. To secure a relay victory, Jin specified that the team had to switch its tactics to overcome unexpected obstacles during the meet.
“In the freestyle relay, Suffield was really fast. Our freestyle relay was, at some point, only seconds faster than theirs, and we wanted to win that 400[-Yard] Freestyle relay. That was a challenge. Individually, there are very speedy swimmers in both Loomis and Suffield, specifically Suffield in the 100[-Yard] Backstroke and the 100[-Yard] Freestyle,” said Jin.
Especially with the few meets the team has on the calendar, Ru emphasized the motivation the team earned from beating both Suffield and Loomis. She shared how the team looks to utilize this motivation to fuel more victories in their upcoming meets.
“Swim doesn’t have a lot of meets in general. We only have four full meets in total, so this is our second meet and second win. We are on a winning streak, and it is just great because it sets up the mood for the rest of the season, and we are looking forward to winning more meets,” said Ru.
Diver Hayley Fan ’29 stressed the value of a supportive atmosphere when performing under pressure. She recalled the enthusiasm exhibited by others during the meet that helped her improve her performance.
“I am glad to see so many people interested in diving, being engaged with the diver’s performance, and really paying attention to scores and all of that. It is really exciting because before, diving, a smaller sport, definitely didn’t get enough visibility, especially at the interscholastic level, so I was very excited to see so many people there and interested,” said Fan.
Fan praised the biggest contributors on the diving team against Suffield and Loomis, teammates David Frahm ’26 and Karla Safarikova ’27. She highlighted their efforts and bravery to secure first place in their respective categories.
Fan said, “Our Captain, David Frahm, got first in the boys category, and an Upper on the team, Karla, also got first in the girls category. They both dove really well that day. Karla had a bunch of difficult dives in her list. For example, inwards one and a half, where you are jumping off the board, you are not looking forward, your back is to the water, and you have to flip forward. And, she does one and a half rotations and a tuck, which is a really difficult dive. David does a bunch of difficult dives too, and they both executed them beautifully and scored really well.”
Girls Swimming and Diving looks forward to competing at Deerfield this Saturday.
