Harvey Zheng ’19 swam in the third-place 200 meter medley relay with a time of 1:47:93.
On Friday, Andover Boys Swimming & Diving set two pool records at home against Westford Academy in a dual meet, continuing the team’s undefeated 4-0 record. Andover beat Westford 119-60.
In 37 out of 53 events, Andover Boys Varsity Swimming & Diving achieved either season-bests or all-time bests.
According to Sam Donchi ’20, who won first place in the 500-Yard Freestyle with a time of 4:38.70, one of the greatest accomplishments of the meet was Max Hunger ’20 breaking a new record. Hunger broke the pool record in the 200-Yard Freestyle with a time of 1:42.24. The previous record was 1:42.60 set in 2012 by Jun Oh ’12.
The other record broken was in the 200-Yard Medley Relay, swum by Jack Warden ’19, Neil Simpson ’19, Lance Freiman ’19, and Arnold Su ’20, with a time of 1:34.74. The previous record was set in 2017 by Warden, Simpson, Su, and Christian Alberga ’17.
According to diver Zack Peng ’21, each diver was successful, especially in new dives the team competed with for the first time. Peng said, however, that the most challenging aspect of the meet was maintaining focus with the added distraction of the home crowd.
In an email to The Phillipian, swimmer Ralph Lam ’22 said, “As mentioned previously, we have been going through rigorous training to prepare us for all the school we face. Recently we’ve been doing Lactate Production sets, this builds up our body’s endurance towards lactic acid, ultimately gearing us for the races we swim over the weekend. However, even in these tough practices, everyone always has a smile on their face regardless, maintaining a positive environment which makes sure that we know to enjoy the experience.”
One of the team’s goals is to ready for the upcoming Eastern Championships. Andover is looking to solidify and practice in its event lineup prior to the competition, according to Donchi.
Donchi said, “I think that the goals before Easterns for the team as a whole are to do any other events in season that we haven’t done, and then to start focusing on the events that will be done at Easterns.”
Andover will next compete on Friday at St. John’s Prep and on Saturday against Deerfield at home.
Editor’s Note: Harvey Zheng is a Digital Editor for The Phillipian.
