Last Saturday, the Andover Boys Varsity Swim team defeated Choate with a decisive final score of 104-81. A combination of experienced returnees and promising newcomers proved to be succesful, as Andover captured wins in both individual events and relays. Although Choate took the opening 200 Medley Relay, Andover managed to place second and third. That was the last time Andover would be behind. Andover swept the next event, the 200 Freestyle, with Julian Azaret ’08, Kevin Zhai ’08, and Howie Kalter ’07 all recording times well under the two-minute mark. In the 200 IM, new upper Scott McColl ’07 battled to the finish against an extremely talented Choate swimmer but was ultimately touched out by only half of a second. Dennis Jow ’07 and Andrew Faulkner ’07 took third and fourth in the IM. Captain Jamie Neuwirth ’06 powered through the water in the 50 freestyle, finishing first with a time of 22.31. Andover’s sole male diver Captain Corey Psoinos ’07 defeated all three of the Choate divers by a large margin, and Jow ’07 placed second in the 100 fly. Andover dominated the 100 free. Captain Neuwirth won with an impressive time of 49.21, and Ryan Ferguson ’07 and Eric Van Oss ’07 placed third and fourth. Azaret and Howie Kalter ’07 decisively took first and second in the 500 free. Later, in the 200 freestyle relay, a team of Ferguson, Brendon Sullivan ’07, McColl, and Captain Neuwirth won by over three seconds to even further Andover’s lead. Faulkner ’07 led the Andover effort in the 100 backstroke, breaking a minute with a time of 59.68 and finishing third. McColl won the 100 breastroke, with Ferguson and Vincent Jow ’09 close behind in third and fourth. Finally, a 400 freestyle relay team of Kalter, Azaret, Jow ’07, and Captain Neuwirth obliterated Choate’s first finisher, winning by more than a 10 second margin. On Wednesday, at the JV meet, Captain Psoinos broke both his own previous school record and the long-standing pool record by over 50 points. Andover was clearly the dominant team in this meet. Though only one meet in, this year’s Boys Varsity Swim team already seems superior to those of years past. Last year, Choate placed second at Interschols with Andover finishing fifth, and last weekend Andover dominated Choate. Andover’s next meet is home on Saturday against Loomis Chaffee at 2 p.m.
