Boys' Swimming Comes Out on Top
By: Kathryn Welch
By the first turn, Swimming senior co-captain Andrew Benson has already won his race. Quickly, his focus shifts to notching the New England record. The crowd roars with excitement as he reaches the wall—eight seconds ahead of the rest of the heat. His fingers hit the touchpad, and the clock reads 47.85: a new school, pool and New England record for the 100 yard butterfly. New England records come easy to Benson, making him a lethal competitor in the NEPSAC rankings.
“This is extremely rare,” Head Coach Don Mills explained. “[Records] are typically broken when swimmers are tapered, shaved and suited up for a championship meet. This is truly a special result.”
This past weekend, the Boys’ Varsity Swim and Dive team achieved triumphant victories over St. John’s Prep and Suffield Academy. The Roger Nekton Championship pool was packed with spectators, cheering the team to victory race after race. On Friday night, the team crushed the Prep with a final score of 109-55. On Saturday, Big Red posted an equally satisfying score of 105-75 against a strong Suffield lineup.
Going into the meet on Saturday, senior Milo Walshe explained the team’s mindset. “We were all pretty excited to race Suffield, especially coming off our win over St. John’s the night before,” he said. The team brought forth its best effort and extended to a four-meet win streak. At this point, Big Red is 4-2, with wins over Milton, Deerfield, St. John’s and Suffield.
The back-to-back meets made securing the win on Saturday all the more rewarding. “The two different dual meets in a row definitely took its toll, but the energy of the team is contagious,” upper Yulian Ye said.
“Our captains Andrew Benson and Charlie Venci have done an outstanding job bringing the intensity to practice and meets,” Mills said. “We have a lot of guys performing well because everyone really gets behind their teammates.” As each swimmer took the block, they knew that the full power of Big Red was behind them.
Senior Carsten Bressel contributed to the team’s win with a strong effort in the 100 free. Earning a third place finish with a time of 51.51 seconds, he kept up his consistent performances this season.
Overall, the team put on a show in front of the home crowd this weekend. “I am completely thrilled with how our team dealt with our stiff competition this weekend,” Venci said. “Everyone should be proud of our performances and feel like we are making some serious progress this season. I am glad to be a part of such a high caliber team.”
With the Eastern and the NEPSAC Championships in sight, the team has a lot of training and hard work to complete. The boys intend to sharpen their skills at Northfield Mount Hermon next week.
The swimmers are self-driven, hardworking and determined to come out on top. As Mills put it, “The body will do what the mind believes it is capable of, and this team makes you believe.”