Boys’ Swimming Triumphs in Tight Meet
Boys’ swimming pulled off another stunning win on Saturday, edging past a strong Choate team 95-91 to bring their record to 3-2.
The boys are reaching their peak training volumes around this time of the season, but that didn’t stop them from dropping the hammer and giving it their all against Choate.
“This past week of practice has been pretty tough, but we really stepped up to the task and put down some good swims. We went into this meet with a lot of excitement,” upper Thomas Gallup said.
Fast performances were fueled by the confidence acquired from beating Deerfield, one of the league’s toughest teams, just two weeks beforehand.
“Coming off of an unexpected win against Deerfield, we knew that we had the capability of going toe-to-toe with any of the fast teams in the league,” senior Michael Tuchler said.
Gallup echoed this sentiment, explaining that their momentum from their previous victory carried over to their match against Choate.
“Our last meet against Deerfield was crazy—the energy, the swims, the atmosphere. We definitely wanted to replicate that this meet, especially because we were so evenly matched with Choate,” he said.
The boys managed to channel their energy from their Deerfield victory to dominate a variety of events.
“Our success came through some key races on our side,” upper David Shepley said. “Both Tuchler and Gallup swam incredible 100 breasts and nailed first and second. Likewise, Graham Hazlett and Andrew Eigner dominated the 100 back.”
In addition to the 100 breast and 100 back, the Big Red also brought home first and second place finishes in the 200 individual medley and 500 freestyle. In the 200 IM, upper Will Belmont dominated the field, and lower Joel Lotzkar finished not far behind. Lotzkar won the 500 free in a speedy time of 5:04.86 with upper Killian Dickson finishing in second place.
“We believed in ourselves and each other, which motivated everybody to compete with all of their ability.”
The fast performances in the later events were aided by the energy the boys brought with them to the meet. “Toward the second half of the meet, the guys started to really pump each other up, and I think that gave us an edge,” Shepley said.
Tuchler agreed with the advantage gained by the team’s positive attitude. “We believed in ourselves and each other, which motivated everybody to compete with all of their ability,” he said.
The boys’ consecutive victories over Deerfield and Choate are indicators for a good performance at Interschols this year, which will be held at Exeter next month. An improvement from last year’s 4th place finish would mean a spot on the podium for Big Red.
“We're showing that we can hold our own against most of the teams in the league this year, which is very encouraging for our end of the year performance. We were all very excited about the win, because just like last week, we knew it would be a tough matchup, and we were excited to come out with a victory,” Hazlett said.
Looking forward, the boys will head to Northfield Mount Hermon Saturday. After back-to-back wins, the team has full confidence in their ability to come away with another victory. “NMH better prepare, because we'll be bringing that same ferocity every meet from now on,” Tuchler said.