Boys’ Swimming Liquidates Loomis
This past weekend, the boys’ varsity swim team travelled to Windsor, Connecticut to face the Loomis Chaffee School. On a roll of five straight wins, Big Red was eager to snatch another victory. Exeter handily defeated Loomis with a score of 97-87, and only dropped three events out of 11. The team’s triumph boosted its season record to seven wins and only one loss.
The boys grinded straight through the week to prepare for the meet. They felt confident in their ability to take Loomis’ team without any rest. Senior and co-captain Taylor Walshe commented about the team’s workouts heading into the meet, saying the boys “swam the challenge set on Thursday.” The team only swims a challenge set once or twice a year, as it is exceptionally rigorous. Big Red was in high spirits preparing for the meet all week, regardless of the difficulty of its practices.
"I just want to say that they have done a great job this season and they were really big influences of mine these past two years,” Venci said.
Although Exeter had unwavering confidence for this meet, two out of the team’s three captains were absent, as well as a handful of other swimmers. However, the team-members that attended the meet didn’t let this adversity stop them from crushing Loomis. Lower Andrew Benson said, “The absence of the captains affected our spirits but not our swims.”
Throughout the meet there were many impressive events that displayed Exeter’s skill. Benson and upper Jared Zhang both had outstanding swims, each breaking a New England record, in addition to Loomis’ pool record. Benson charged through the 100 meter butterfly with a time of 55.86 seconds, topping the field by a full six seconds and clearing the old New England record by nearly a second. Zhang shredded his competition in the 100 meter backstroke and finished the swim in 57.8 seconds. He brought the New England record below 58 seconds for the first time.
Another highlight swim from the weekend was senior Jamie Cassidy’s win in the 100 meter breastroke. Lower Charlie Venci explained that Cassidy faced off against Loomis’ water polo captain. “He unloaded everything on that race in a showdown between two water polo captains.” Cassidy swam a strategic race, running down Loomis’ breaststroke swimmer by a fraction of a second after toying with him for the first 75 meters. Cassidy was also a huge contributor to the 200 medley relay team that fell a mere 0.2 seconds short of the New England record.
In his senior year, Cassidy has exploded onto the scene, becoming one of the best in not only the team but also the league at his event. “We are talking about a kid who thought he was going to be the swim team manager this year. Now he’s running the show… He went from a non-competing varsity swimmer to the sixth best breaststroker in New England,” Walshe said. “What a hero.”
For Cassidy, Walshe and the other seniors on the team, this past Saturday marked the last away meet in their Exeter swimming career. Venci expressed his appreciation of the seniors for the leadership and spirit they consistently bring to the team. “I just want to say that they have done a great job this season and they were really big influences of mine these past two years,” Venci said.
In the coming weeks, the team will be training for its highly anticipated meet against Andover taking place one week from this Saturday. Lower Carsten Bressel commented on how the players will prepare for the meet. He said, “Coach [Don] Mills will put us in a tough yardage grind before we hopefully have a few days [to] taper.” Walshe expressed his eagerness to face top-ranked Andover. He said, “They are seeded ahead of us but the underdog is the hungry dog, and we are coming for the throne.”