Andover Boys Swimming’s 122-64 victory against rival Exeter not only concluded Andover’s fourth consecutive undefeated season, but also solidified Andover’s standing as the number one in the league. The Seniors went into the meet with a four-year cumulative record of 25-0. The team’s confidence, a result of its routine rest period before Easterns, allowed Andover to take first place in 10 of 11 swimming events. “It’s a great pride to be able to lead the team in its undefeated season,” said Captain Joe Faller ’14. “It’s nice to see the guys having fun, and we showed our three Seniors the best last meet that they could have.” Andrew Xuan ’13 said, “It’s been a great four years. Being 25-0 [cumulatively] and being the only Senior that was truly part of every single one of those meets is something pretty special.” The meet started out strong with Andover’s A relay team of Tim Wynter ’14, Justin Wang ’13, Alex Li ’15 and Scott Simpson ’14 taking first place in the 200 Yard IM in 1:39.87. The B relay, consisting of Charlee Van Eijk ’14, Chris Li ’15, Andrew Xuan ’13 and Connor Fraser ’13, edged Exeter out by 0.18 seconds for third place. Faller then entered the pool to take first place in the 200 Freestyle in 1:43.88, followed closely by Travis Bouscaren ’14 in second with 1:48.35 and Fraser with a personal best of 1:51.52 in fourth. Andover resurfaced with a first and second place sweep in the 200 IM. Aaron Teo ’15 finished first in 2:00.29, just ahead of Simpson with a time of 2:01.99. Exeter took first place in the 50 Freestyle, but David Cao ’14, Xuan and Alex Li claimed second, third and fifth place, respectively, pushing the event to a draw. “Everyone has realized their role on the team and what events they have to step up to and swim faster on,” said Bouscaren. The three individual events following the diving event reflected Andover’s success due to tapering. Facing off against the two-time defending New England champion, Wynter sped to first place with a two second lead in the 100 Butterfly. Heson Oh ’14, Marcello Rossi ’16 and Cao then swept the 100 Freestyle, placing first, second and third, while Bouscaren took the 500 Freestyle in 4:55.15, followed by Fraser in second with a personal best of 5:00.16. Andover then delivered its fastest 200 Freestyle Relay time of the season with Faller, Oh, Cao and Simpson finishing in 1:29.90 for first, and Teo, Alex Li, Darren Ty ’16 and Bouscaren for 1:33.26 in second. In the 100 Backstroke and the 100 Breaststroke, Andover cleared the pool with 1-2 wins from Wynter and Faller and Teo and Yang respectively. In the final event, the 400 Freestyle, Andover solidified its victory with Wynter, Simpson, Bouscaren and Faller in first, Oh, Rossi, Ty and Cao in third, and Fraser, Thomas Choi ’16, Van Eijk and Teo in fourth place. “I improved two seconds on my 200 Freestyle, so I think that with another week ahead of us we’ll be well rested for Easterns and we’ll perform well,” said Rossi. For the first time in at least 40 years, Andover will travel to Fort Washington, Pennsylvania on Thursday night to participate in the Eastern Interscholastic Swimming Championships hosted by Germantown Academy. With some new schools in the mix, including swimming powerhouse Peddie, “we’re trying to do the best we can,” said Cao.
