With a win last Saturday against perennial powerhouse and defending New England Champions Deerfield Academy, Andover Boys Varsity Swimming kept their undefeated season alive. Andover swimmers set out determined, and from the time they dove off the starting block for the first event, the boys began racking up the points. The relay team of Co-Captain Brendan Deveney ’09, Curtis Hon ’10, Jimmy Brenner ’10 and Co-Captain Steven Lee-Kramer ’09 brought home first place in the 200 Medley Relay. The team of Derrick Choi ’12, Larry Zhou ’09, Alex Smachlo ’11 and Asa Harrington ’09 trailed shortly behind for third place. In the 200 Freestyle, Andover’s Conor McAuliffe ’10 surpassed the Deerfield swimmer in the last few yards of the race, just barely pressing his fingers against the touch pad before his opponent to secure a time of 1:48.75. Matt Mahoney ’11 finished close behind. In the 200 Individual Medley, Hon snagged third place despite competition from some of Deerfield’s top swimmers. Lee-Kramer acheived a personal best of 22.68 seconds in the 50 freestyle, placing second. Deerfield put up a tough fight against Andover during the diving portion of the meet, but Kyle Ofori ’09 held his own. Diving gracefully and putting on a show for all spectators, Ofori achieved a personal best score of 175.90. Thomas Kramer ’11 added to the point total, coming in third place overall. McAuliffe and Brenner later took first and second place in the 100 Butterfly. Andover continued to dominate in the 500 Freestyle, where Mahoney easily won first place, and Smachlo grabbed second place. Deerfield triumped over Andover in the next event, winning the 200 Freestyle Relay. However, their two point addition barely affected Andover’s 83 point lead. Deveney ’09 next claimed a personal best time of 54.12 seconds in the 100 backstroke, while his brother, Conor Deveney ’11, picked up second place. The 100 Breastroke, the last individual event, featured Zhou achieving a personal best time of 1:03.60 while taking third place. In the last event, one of Andover’s best relay teams consisting of Mahoney, McAuliffe, Hon and Deveney ’09, turned in an amazing time of 3:18.18. Throughout the meet, Andover dominated over Deerfield, with the final score being 107-79. Although this win may have seemed like a battle to spectators, James Martino ’09 said, “Our goal is to win New Englands, not only to beat Deerfield.” On Saturday, Andover Boys Varsity Swimming will gather at its home pool to face the Hopkins School. Hopkins, having earned an 8-1 record this season, will prove to be a tough opponent for Andover.
