Girls' Swimming Cruises Past Northfield Mount Hermon

This past Saturday, the Big Red girls’ swim team made its way to NMH to compete. While the meet was originally planned for both the boys and girls teams, NMH’s boys team came down with the flu, so the girls team “flu” solo, and defeated NMH on their own.This meet was not particularly challenging for the girls squad. Lower Caroline del Real explained the level of competition. “Their team isn’t really a strong one,” del Real said. “We actually decided to not count the last part of the meet to make it seem more even.”Although it was an easy win for the team, the meet provided a great opportunity for many of the girls to practice in competition, get more meet experience and improve their overall best times individually. “This was more of a meet for times and personal improvements,” del Real said.The meet also proved to be much quicker, without the boys heats taking up time, unfortunately meant less rest for the athletes. Prep Emily LaRovere elaborated on the meet’s downside. “It was tough not having the guys swim team there. There was not much time between each event to rest without the guys.” However, the girls were ready for the challenge. “We are nearing the peak of the season so our workouts have been pretty intense,” upper Michelle Ysrael said of the team’s performance. “I was glad to see everyone working hard despite the sore arms and thighs. All the girls placed very well and we had some best times.”The meet also afforded the girls the chance to practice some races that they might not normally compete in. “We got to try out different events and strokes that we don't usually swim. It was a fun meet,” Upper Dana Yu said.The girls sped through the 200 freestyle, 200 IM, 100 backstroke and 50 freestyle events—taking first, second and third in all four. In particular, the preps on the team performed admirably, with every one of them taking a best time in one race or another.While the Exeter girls’ team is proud of its win, the girls are still reeling from their loss last week—the only lost they’ve had this season. “I am still upset about our loss against Choate, but that only leaves more room for improvement,” LaRovere said. Still, the girls are looking ahead to the rest of the season, and hope to be able to take the win at Interschols later this year. “I think the goal is to win interschols again,” del Real said.“We lost last year, but won the year before that, and it'd be nice to do that for our seniors, before they leave.” LaRovere agreed with del Real’s sentiment. “By the end of the season, I hope that our team is ready to go to championships with lots of energy and swim fast.”