Boys’ Swimming Falls to Deerfield Despite Strong Swims, Spirited Fans

This past Saturday, the boys’ varsity swim team suffered a tough home loss against a strong Deerfield team, 85.5 points to 101.5 points.

Despite the home-pool advantage, the team unfortunately could not keep up with Deerfield’s swimmers. However, the team has not been deterred by this loss, as they have come back with multiple good swims and best times.

Upper Joel Lotzkar said that “It was a bit disappointing to ultimately fall to Deerfield,” but all in all he was “satisfied with our team’s performance. I thought all our guys gave their best efforts.”

“We have been training hard, eating healthily and sleeping a lot. We are excited for what’s to come in these next few meets.”

“The team was certainly very excited going into this meet,” lower Harry Saunders added. “We upset Deerfield last year, so I don’t think anyone felt intimidated despite the fact that they are the defending New England champs.”

There were a number of impressive performances by Big Red this Saturday. The 200m free relay team, consisting of seniors Ernesto Brown, Will Belmont and David Shepley and lower Taylor Walshe, out-touched Deerfield by a little less than a second.

All four boys swam under 23 seconds, which directly contributed to their first place win. “There was a lot of energy behind the relay and we felt pumped about swimming our hardest for each other,” said Shepley, the third leg in the relay.

The 100 breaststroke was another highlight, as senior Thomas Gallup and Lotzkar stole first and second place, respectively. On top of that, Lotzkar shaved almost a minute off his best time from last race. Upper Liam Oakley praised Gallup and Lotzkar, saying that they “killed it.”

In spite of their crazy schedule of competing in multiple meets every week, the boys prepared as well as they could for it.

“We have had many intense practices since coming back from the winter break, but because of our two-meets-a-week schedule, we had a couple more relaxed practices before Deerfield,” Lotzkar said.

It was noted at this meet that the boys had become closer, growing in team spirit and experience.

“The team had an awesome mentality,” prep Jeremy Xu said. “Everyone was so supportive of each other’s races, putting the team’s performance before their own.”

Lotzkar echoed Xu’s thoughts. “Teammates were cheering for each other and there was a large turnout, both of which fueled our team through the meet,” she said.

Supporter turnout from the Exeter community was high. There was a great deal of support from everyone. Signs were put up and maroon dots packed the stands, cheering for the swimmers.

Next Wednesday, the boys will compete against St. John’s Prep, a strong team that has won all six of their meets this season. It will be a tough meet for Big Red, but they are staying optimistic.

“We have been training hard, eating healthily and sleeping a lot. We are excited for what’s to come in these next few meets,” Xu said.

It is still relatively early in the season, and the boys are off to a good start with a record of 2-2. The team has accepted this small defeat, and they are ready to move on as the middle of the season approaches.