Boys' Swimming and Diving Endures Up-and-Down Season

Record: 4-5 After a participating in a pre-season trainingsession in Florida, the boys’ varsity swimmingand diving team came into full gear when winterterm came around, of cially kicking off theirseason under the “ of co-captains senior FinnMeeks and upper Joe Shepley.Although the team worked hard in preparationfor the early stages of their season, theyfaced a series of tough opponents for their rstfew meets, having to take on Suf eld, Deer eld,St. John’s and Greenwich. In addition, the teamwas crippled by illnesses and injuries, resultingin a 1-4 record by mid-January.In a meet against St. Sebastian’s CountryDay School at Dana Hall, however, the boyswere able to clinch a hard-fought victory 86-76,reversing their momentum. In the process, theyregained their spirits and began to push to the endof the season. Their efforts culminated in a strongshowing at the New England Championships.The team carried its momentum for the nextfew weeks to claim victories against a couple offormidable opponents. Exeter came out on topagainst Choate Rosemary Hall 106.5-80.5, andagainst North eld Mount Hermon by a scoreof 83-70.Unfortunately, Big Red suffered a heavyloss to Andover during E/a, snapping their winningstreak at three games by a score of 64-122.Rather than being disheartened by the loss, theteam took this as further motivation to train evenharder to ensure that they would perform theirbest at Interschols.The 2013 New England Championshipsfor swimming and diving were held at Deer eldAcademy. At the end of the day, Exeter claimedthird place against a host of tough opponents.Deerfield Academy was awarded 1st with389 points, followed by Suffield Academywith 388. Exeter racked up 355 points in theirperformance.For the swimmers, the day kicked off withtwo 200-yard medley races with preps DavidShepley and Graham Hazlett, upper Nick duPontand senior Chris Mukasa on the A event andlower Joe Platte, uppers Philip Decker and BrunoJacob and senior Kurt Pianka on the B event.Third- and rst-place nishes, respectively, gavethe team the con dence to push themselves tocap off their season with a strong performance.As the day went on, Big Red showcasedtheir prowess in the pool as Joe Shepley placedsecond in a competitive 200-yard I.M. race andrst in the 100-yard butter y. The 200-yardfreestyle relay team of Joe Shepley, Mukasa,prep Will Belmont and senior Erik Saberskicame in second, only half a second behind astrong Suf eld lineup.Joe Shepley, Belmont, Saberski and Meeksclosed out the meet for the boys with the lastevent, the 400-yard freestyle relay, placing secondto end the meet on a high note.“I am proud of how everyone performedwell at the New England Championships andreally improved as the season progressed,” upperJB Baker said. “Even though we were a littleoff of rst place at the Championships, placingthird, the improvement was very impressive,and I think it’s a very good sign for next season.”Senior Andrew Seo agreed. “For the team,I was really proud of the way we swam at Interschols,”he said. “Going in, we knew we had atough task against talented teams like Deer eldand Suf eld, but everyone stepped up and swampersonal bests. It was satisfying to see all our collectiveefforts during the season nally pay off.”Many swimmers felt that the season wasmuch better than the records rst suggest, witha lot of the athletes seeing drops in their times,along with some personal records.DuPont stepped up halfway through theseason and became a crucial member of theteam, swimming the best 100-yard breaststroketime. Joe Shepley tied his 100-yard butter yrecord. In addition, Meeks quali ed in the topheat at the New England Championships for hisswims. Seo said he was proud of the way thatthe team performed, especially given some ofthe unforeseen circumstances that were broughtforth. “We had some rough stretches as a teamin the beginning of January as half our teamwas sick with some illness, but we perseveredthrough that and managed to swim well at theend of the season by keep putting our best effortpossible every single day,” he said.As a newcomer, David Shepley said thathe appreciated the welcoming team atmosphereand looked forward to greeting the next set ofswimmers that would join them for the 2014season. “Coming into the team as a prep wasreally fun and a smooth transition. I had alreadyknown most of the guys from water polo, and ourtraining trip in the beginning of the year reallygot the team to bond,” he said.He continued, “Moving on, I am lookingforward to meet the new preps that will be withus next year. I’m hoping to keep alive the strongbond between team members,” he said. “I thinkthat support is one of the most helpful thingsfor a swimmer. It helps a lot when you have ateammate there to encourage you before a bigrace at nals.”The team believed that each individualswimmer’s sense of self-motivation and theidea of teamwork helped the team grow further.“Swimming can be tough, but in the end ofthe day it was worth it because everyone’s hardwork showed at the end of the season where weall were able to improve,” Baker said.Seo agreed. “I think the team, as it alwaysdoes, is really good about creating an environmentof hard work and self-accountability,” hesaid. “Obviously every team wants to workhard, but in my experience members of a swimteam hold themselves accountable better thanmost. My biggest takeaway from this team isthat effort pays.”The boys will see seven swimmers and twodivers graduate in 2013. The captains-elect forthe 2013-14 season are Baker and Joe Shepley,who will lead the team with their experienceof being on the team for the past three seasons.