After a nerve-racking start, the Andover Girls’ swim team rebounded in the second half of the competition to crush Choate by 28 points. The meet began with the 200 medley relay, and when Andover placed second, fourth and fifth, the team knew it had to step up if it wanted to win. Said Captain Alanna Waldman ’10, “Choate started off the meet very strong, and I was uncertain as to how the meet would end. After the first half of the meet, however, we fought back and took the lead winning key events such as the 500 freestyle, and the 200 and 400 free relays.” In the 200 freestyle, the girls placed second, fourth and fifth, falling farther behind Choate. “After watching the first two events, I felt a little discouraged, but I knew we would come on strong later in the meet, we always do,” said Peyton Morss ’10. In the 200 IM, however, Andover charged back with Lydia Azaret ’12 and Julia Torabi ’12 finishing in second and third respectively. At this point Andover had still not won a single event. Andover gained more momentum in the 50 freestyle as Hailey Novis ’13 sprinted to victory in 25.78, out-touching Lexi Moroney ’11 by half a second. Andover swept diving, with Kendall MacRae ’11 finishing in first, Captain Emily Johnson ’10 finishing in second and Whitney Glick ’11 rounding out the scoring in third. Diving marked a turning point in the meet, and Andover broke away from Choate to dominate the second half. Julia Torabi cruised to a victory in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:01.90, beginning the second half of the meet on a high note. Torabi said, “I was nervous for my 100 fly, mostly because I had been feeling sick that day and I didn’t know how I would feel in the water. But as soon as I dove in I just hit my stride and felt really good and strong”. Morss, Moroney, and Lucy Frey ’13 finished second, third, and fourth in the 100 yard freestyle with times of 56.15, 56.67, and 59.48 respectively. The 500 yard freestyle was by far the most exciting event of the meet, as Julia Smachlo ’13 finished first and Kristen Faulkner ’11 barely out-touched Choate’s top distance swimmer by a hundredth of a second. Said Smachlo, “I was pretty nervous before, but I was really happy with my swim and the good race that I had with Kristen and the Choate girl. I could see them both for most of the race, and at about the last 100 yards I could hear and see people running up and down the pool from both teams and that made me just want to finish the race as soon as possible.” Emily Carrolo ’13 finished fourth in the 500, securing Andover’s solid victory. Andover finished first, third and fifth in the 200 freestyle relay, giving the girls even more confidence as the meet neared its end. The 100 yard backstroke was another exciting event, with Azaret, Theresa Faller ’11 and Carrolo coming in first, second and fourth, respectively. Said Faller, “The 100 back is always my favorite event, and the time I swam was a good time to start the season off with. We’re going to be fast this year.” Coach Paul Murphy felt pleased with the team’s performance, especially because it was the first meet of the season, “We put together a very strong lineup against Choate – and it is clear to me that we have many other lineups that will be strong against other opponents this season.”
