Swimming the 200-yard freestyle in 1:40.7 minutes, Max Hunger ’20 broke the Andover/Exeter meet record, contributing to an Andover Boys Swimming & Diving victory over Phillips Exeter Academy 102-70 on Wednesday. Andover’s dual meet record now stands at 7-0, with only the New England Championships[a][b][c] (New Englands) remaining.
According to Trey Wolfe ’23, Andover was able to defeat Exeter due to the team’s impressive talent and depth.
“I think where we beat Exeter today was our depth. Exeter has a couple of very good swimmers, but at the end of the day, each swimmer can only swim two events. We have so many talented swimmers that we are not always able to take first in every event but could take second, third, and fourth, and that means a lot more,” said Wolfe.
For Andover, the two-step dive was a valuable skill to have, as it helped the team get an early advantage in races, according to Ralph Lam ’22.
“It is essentially right before you leave the block on a relay start, you take a few steps and then launch your body off the block. We have been practicing that skill for quite a while, actually, and I think today the team, [by] putting in their hard work and practice and consistently making sure they are getting all the details right, pulled it off really well,” said Lam.
According to Wolfe, the 100-yard breaststroke stood out as a very competitive race.
“Christopher [Xia ’23] and Brandon [Garcia PG’20] did a really good job. They were both neck and neck until the end of the race and they both swam incredibly well,” said Wolfe.
On the diving side, Zack Peng ’21 broke his own Andover/Exeter meet record from 2018, achieving a score of 306.8 points.
Before the race, Head Coach David Fox highlighted the importance of implementing all the skills the team had learned throughout the season, according to Lam.
“[Fox] said to make sure we maintain our focus, our discipline, and that we at least not drop our skills and our technique that we have been working on and that he’s been helping us work on for the past season,” said Lam.
In preparation for New Englands this Saturday, the team needs to stay healthy and work on individual improvements, according to Hank Yang ’22.
“I think everyone knows what they have to work on individually. Right now, making sure that we get enough rest and eat well are things we will focus on. All the hard work has already been done, so right now we have to rest our bodies so we can swim fast for [New Englands].”
The team will travel to Hotchkiss on Saturday for New Englands[d].
Editor’s Note: Ralph Lam ’22 is a Video Editor for The Phillipian.
