In the first race of the season, Andover’s “A” 200 Medley Relay of Co-Captain Tim Wynter ’14, Scott Simpson ’14, Alex Li ’15 and Michael Camarda ’14 shattered the Suffield pool record with a 1:36.61 finish, the fifth fastest performance in Andover’s school history and the 12th fastest in New England history. Led by Co-Captains Joe Faller ’14 and Wynter, as well as nine other returning Seniors, Andover Boys Swimming is striving to claim its sixth consecutive undefeated season in the New England Prep School Swimming Association (NEPSSA). “Our team is very top heavy this year with 11 Seniors. Therefore, over half of our team has experience competing at the varsity level and pretty much all of our speed from last year is returning. All of this experience is something that none of the other teams in the league have and will definitely set us apart. We are looking to having one of our best seasons yet,” said Faller. On Saturday, Andover fell 90-93 to Peddie, the defending Eastern Champions, but beat Suffield, last year’s New England Championship runner-up, 109-77 in a dual-meet. Although Andover suffered its first loss since 2009, Peddie is not in NEPSSA and, therefore, the loss will not affect Andover’s undefeated streak. “Losing by such a small margin to Peddie is just another incentive for us to continue training hard as we prepare for Eastern’s and New England’s at the end of February,” said Simpson. Andover boasts three additions to its swimming roster this season: Christian Alberga ’17, Jonathan Xue ’17 and Richard Zhong ’17. “Richard is really good at backstroke, Jonathan is one of the best on the team at breaststroke, and Christian is probably one of the best sprint freestylers that the Andover Swimming program has ever had,” said Faller. After forgoing the New England Championships last year in favor of the Eastern Championships for the first time in 40 years to promote more team participation, Andover plans to return to both this season. Backed by such a strong lineup of Seniors and promising newcomers, Andover has high hopes to prove its dominance in both arenas. “I am most excited to compete at both New Englands and Easterns. This is the first year our program will be competing at both meets and the whole team is pumped for that opportunity,” said Wynter. “My short term goals right now are to encourage the team and get everyone excited to race at the dual meets, and to have 100 percent personal best times at our championship meets,” he added. “I want to be able to look back at this year and say, ‘Wow, that was one awesome season,’” said Simpson. Andover Diving was also victorious on Saturday, beating Peddie 13-0. Jack Belluche ’16 won the event with 171.35 points. Thomas Bakken ’14 came in second with 129.55 points and Graham Johns ’14 came in third with 127.35 points to help Andover claim the win. “Executing the front two and a half flip really helped me get the win,” said Belluche, “The team did very well collectively, especially since it was only our first meet, and I think that we have the potential to do very well this year. Andover will take on Loomis on January 11.
