Girls Swimming Sports Winter Sports

GVSw: Girls Coast to Victory

Claiming first place in six out of eight events, Andover Girls Swimming and Diving beat Choate handily 117-69. Three of the six victories were in relays. This win avenged Andover’s loss to Choate last year and boosted the team’s record to 1-2-0.

The success of Jessica Gearan ’18 in the meet proved to be pivotal for Andover. Gearan won the 200-Yard Freestyle and the 100-Yard Backstroke with times of 2:01.66 and 1:01.83, respectively. Along with Katherine Sweetser ’17, Allyson Ty ’18 and Elizabeth Tran ’19, Gearan swam in the 400-Yard Freestyle relay, with their team finishing first with a time of 3:44.87.

Elizabeth Duserick ’16, Emma Donchi ’18, Juliette Farmer ’18 and Yifei Wu ’18 won the 200-Yard Medley relay in a time of 1:56.51, with splits of 29.13, 33.43, 28.10 and 25.85.

Donchi went on to place second behind Gearan in her signature event, the 100-Yard Backstroke, with a time of 1:02.04.

“Because there is a lot of competition in the backstroke within our own team, we constantly motivate each other to go faster, both in practice and in meets. Swimming with such talented swimmers is definitely one of the reasons why our team has so much depth,” wrote Donchi in an email to The Phillipian.

Ty displayed her blazing speed in the 50-Yard Freestyle, taking first place with a time of 25.13. Ty later went wire-to-wire in the 100-Yard Freestyle, clinching another first place time of 54.18.

Macey Mannion ’19 also contributed to the point tally of the meet, winning the 500-Yard Freestyle with a time of 5:31.05. Mannion’s success and confidence as a new swimmer speaks to the welcoming spirit of the team.

“Even though I’m just a [Junior], my older teammates have welcomed and included me into the team, and I feel very honored to have the opportunity to practice and race with such wonderful girls,” wrote Mannion in an email to The Phillipian.

In the 200-Yard Freestyle Relay, Duserick, Farmer, Tran and Ty swam to a huge win, finishing with a time of 1:43.34.

Head Coach Paul Murphy ’83 said, “I am amazed with this year’s depth. We have a few more kids in each event than last year, which makes a huge difference in our ability to win meets.”

Andover looks to build on its upward momentum against Loomis Chaffee this Saturday.