Choate Bests Boys’ Swimming In Nail-Biting Three-Point Win

At their first away meet, boys’ varsity swimming suffered a very close loss to Choate with a score of 94-91. The team put up a strong fight, competing neck-and-neck with the opposing team throughout the whole meet, only to be defeated during the last event.There was immense support from Big Red in the stands as Choate is centrally located in New England, making it a convient spot for most parents to attend. Siblings leaned against the rails, waving maroon cardboard signs above the deck. Intensity filled the atmosphere as Choate entered the pool deck, performing a lengthy clapping cheer to commence the meet.Big Red’s swimmers were intially thrown off by the fact that the opponents pool was 25 meters, while Exeter’s has always been 25 yards. The boys tried their best to get a feel for the pool during the thirty minute warm up, practicing their turns and strokes into the wall.

“I am pleased with how the boys rallied behind each other the entire day, getting each other pumped up to compete.”

Senior Thomas Gallup explained, “The fact that the Choate pool is in meters threw us off a little bit, but we just overcame it and kept fighting.”The boys had been preparing for the meet all week as their coach, physicial education instructor Don Mills, pounded them with repitious sets of 125 yards to prepare them for the longer pool. Upper Joel Loztkar described the tedious training process.“Our previous meet had been one and a half weeks before, so we had a good amount of time to train and get ready,” he said. “In the week leading up to Choate, we had a couple of long, tough practices and one sprint, short practice.”As the boys pulled ahead seven points before the last event, the deciding factor ultimately fell on the 400 free relay. There was a lot of pressure surrounding the event as the team had to place second to secure a win. Unfortunately, both Choate’s A and B teams out-touched Exeter’s, leaving only the third and fourth positions to grasp. Yet despite the loss, the team was proud of how competitive they had stayed throughout the match.“I am proud of the effort put into the last relay. Even though we didn’t win, each leg gave it their all,” Senior Ernesto Brown said.Gallup agreed with Brown, emphasising the team’s ability to stay focused until the end. “At the end of the meet we knew it was going be close. They had scored some serious points in the 100 backstroke and we pushed hard to come back in the breast,” he said.Despite the overall loss, there were some impressive team efforts during this meet. One was the 200 free relay, during which it was unclear whose team was going to take the win. In the end, it came down to less than a second of a difference between first and second place, with Exeter taking the top spot.“The two free relay was decided by one one-hundredth of a second,” Mills said. “That was an exciting win.”The boys treated this meet as a learning experience for the future, walking away with their spirits up. They have high hopes for the rest of the season.“I am pleased with how the boys rallied behind each other the entire day, getting each other pumped up to compete. I am proud of how that put it all on the line,” said Mills. “If you do that and you come short, you can walk away with your head held high.”