Girls’ Swimming Falls Short Against Andover
Last Saturday, the Exeter girls’ varsity swim team competed against Phillips Andover. The team fell by a large margin of 78-108. The meet was truly disappointing for Big Red.
Having only beaten Andover once in the last six years, the girls set out for Andover with a pessimistic mindset. Lower Issy Wise commented on the team’s attitude prior to and during the meet. “We knew it might be a little rough, and it was.”
Despite the difficulties it faced, the team realized that its morale could make a difference, even if only slightly. “We still tried to encourage each other throughout the meet though. Things could always be worse,” Wise said.
Exeter did manage to win some events. Lower Tina Wang won the 100 yard freestyle and Lower Heddy Parker came in second in the same event outmatching several Andover swimmers. Exeter won the 100 yard breaststroke with a fast swim from lower Ashleigh Lackey. In addition, Wang and Parker again both placed second in the 50 yard free and the 200 yard free, respectively.
“We’ve been working really hard—too hard to end on this note. We just hope that it reflects at Interschols."
Wise commended some of her teammates who swam outstandingly during the day, particularly Lackey, Wang and Parker who each managed to place above Andover swimmers in at least one event. While a majority of the events did not go as the team would have liked, Exeter did clinch some well-deserved wins in the relays. Big Red won both the 400 yard freestyle relay and the 200 yard freestyle relay. Over the course of this year, the girls’ relay teams have been particularly strong, something lower Sam Gove attributes to “each person in the relay working their hardest.” Gove also expressed the morale boost that came with winning those relays. “The end of the meet was better than the beginning; it was rough. But, we did win thsose two relays so that was pretty good,” she said.
Although the girls were dissapointed with the loss, the team plans to convert its frustration as motivation to work harder during practice. “I know we can’t be making excuses but a lot of the team was sick and not in their best condition,” Gove said. As of now, the team has Interschols to look forward to competing at, hopefully redeeming their season.
Lower Ariane Avandi echoed Gove. “We’ve been working really hard—too hard to end on this note. We just hope that it reflects at Interschols,” she said.
The team now has two weeks to train for Interschols. Every team in the league will be raicng at the big meet, so the competition will be fierce. The girls hope to place in the top three after finishing sixth place last year. Although the team’s overall result is important, each individual swimmer has her own goals and hopes to sets personal records with fast swims.