1/16/25 Highlight: Varsity Swim
By MARYN BOWMAN and KEVIN THANT
On Jan. 11, the Brunswick School and Greenwich Academy arrived in Exeter to play against the boys’ and girls’ varsity swimming teams, respectively. Exeter destroyed their competition in both meets, with the boys winning 101-83, and the girls winning 106-78.
Prep Laurel Van de Water expressed the excitement she had for the meet. “I think our team is very capable, and I’m excited to see what times and moments the meet has for us.” After the meet, she specifically wanted to highlight Sophie Feng and Claire Han “for their hard work so far this season, and it 100 percent shows in the pool.”
Reflecting on the season’s progression, she added, “Starting off the season with a win is always a good thing, and I think that the meet was the perfect starting point to build from as the season progresses.”
“It was the first time we had the whole team back,” said captain and senior Winston Wang. “The fact that as a team, we could win against two pretty competitive teams showed our strength.” Wang highlighted strong individual performances, such as from Finley McLane, Ethan Guo, and Rudd Day. Wang himself got first in the 50 freestyle, with senior Rudd Day coming in second.
“Winston got the team spirit up with his hype speech, and after that we were ready to win,” lower Allen Klingel commented. Klingel further described the first boys’ event: the 200 medley relay in which Exeter narrowly pulled off a victory, the first of many for Big Red.
Meanwhile, prep Jean Ning emphasized the strong sense of closeness that has contributed to the team’s continued success. “We have a positive attitude with lots of team bonding activities, such as our Secret Santa, and our team lunches before swim meets,” Ning said.
She also noted the team’s strength in diversity, with swimmers excelling in a variety of specialties. “We have lots of team spirit and cheering during meets,” she added, summing up the team in one word: “spirit.”
With the win against Brunswick and Greenwich Academy, varsity swimming continues its streak of strong performances, leaving the team currently undefeated this season.