Exeter Swimmers Saw Their Times Shrink, Many Broke Their Records
Winter term is now behind us, and with it went the so-called “winter blues.” While winter term can be depressing for some and downright miserable for others, it is not that way for all of Exeter’s students. For the swim team, winter term means the start of a new season of the sport they love.
From the pool to the weight room, the swim team goes hard in all that they do. Whether it be a twelve-thousand-yard workout or a light taper day, you can always find the boys in the pool, giving it their all.
This season provided the swimmers with a number of great opportunities. For the older students, it was a chance to improve their technique, work on their stroke and break their personal records. Or, in some cases, school records. For the younger returning students, it was a chance to gain more experience with the sport and to improve their game in the pool. For the youngest members of the team, it was a chance to get familiar with the sport, establish a strong base and gear up for the seasons ahead.
The swim season works like many other sports, with an initial dual-meet season followed by the championship meet. This year, the boys did well through the season, and managed to bang out a respectable performance in the interscholastic competition at Hotchkiss.
“This season, I’d say that we all worked really hard throughout the dual meet season, and that really paid off at Interschols,” lower Graham Hazlett said. “We had some hard workouts here and there, but we knew that if we kept at it and didn’t give up, eventually we’d be able to get through the season with some victories under our belt.”
The boys weren’t wrong. At the last meet of the season, nearly all of the athletes dropped time in one race or another and managed to finish in fourth place out of the league, with many Exeter swimmers finishing in the A league at the meet. “We had a lot of great swims at Hotchkiss,” Hazlett said. “I’m really proud of our season, and I hope the rest of the squad is too.”
Many swimmers saw great improvement over the course of the season. In particular, the preps on the team, Joel Lotzkar, Walter Lehneis and John Wang, gained some very valuable experience when they traveled to Interschols with the rest of the varsity team.
“It was a really good time,” Lehneis said of the trip and the meet. “I think it was really great that we got to go out there with the rest of the varsity guys and see what Interschols is like. I don’t know about the rest of the boys, but I really appreciate the opportunity to swim in the Championships.”
The season nevertheless was a particularly difficult one for the boys. With lots of demanding workouts coupled with schoolwork, the performance from the squad was remarkable. “We trained hard throughout the season, including our twelve thousand yard morning and afternoon practice, as well as our lifting days,” upper Erick Friis said of the season. “In meets, we swam and dove our best, culminating in our 4th place title in the New England championships. [Seniors] Joe [Shepley] and JB [Baker] led the team well as captains, and everybody swam their best. Joe broke his own record by half a second in an amazing swim to finish off his Exeter swimming career.”
The boys started off their preparation for Interschols with a taper. For those out there who aren’t familiar with the concept, a taper consists of slowly decreasing the yardage of the team’s workouts. Little by little, the workouts get shorter and less demanding. Essentially, it saves energy and preps the athletes for a big meet, getting them well-rested and ready to compete. However, due to the decreased amount of exercise, taper workouts come with one significant caveat: dieting.
“Taper diets are terrible,” Hazlett said. “I think I know how wrestlers feel during taper diets. First of all, we can eat very little carbohydrates, as we are not doing enough exercise to burn them all off. Secondly, we have to really watch our caloric intake. This means that a lot of the time, we go to bed hungry.” Hazlett went on to explain that virtually all the taper diet consists of is fiber and protein. Such is the tradeoff—easier workouts, less eating.
The next swim season should be an impressive one. Although some great swimmers are leaving the squad, hopefully the team will acquire some new potential from the incoming students, and some existing swimmers will step up to fill the shoes left behind by the seniors who are departing.
The team, however, will not be without great leadership. At the end of this past season, the squad voted to replace outgoing captains Joe Shepley and JB Baker with current uppers Andrew Eigner and Brooks Saltonstall.
“I’m really honored to have been elected captain,” Saltonstall said. “This is such a strong group of guys who work very, very hard. It’s really going to be my pleasure to lead them next year.” Saltonstall and Eigner, both strong swimmers on the team, already have a substantial amount of responsibility within the team. But they have stepped up to accept the burden and privilege of a captainship and take on the responsibilities that go hand-in-hand with the position.
All in all, this season was a great one for the boys’ team, and under the guidance of the new captains, the squad should go on to achieve even bigger and better things this coming season.