Exeter Varsity Swim Crush Brunswick and Greenwich
By ISABEL EVANS, LOGAN LIU, ISHAAN SINGH, and HENRY WISE
On Saturday, Jan. 6, Exeter’s boys and girls swimming and diving teams competed in an away meet in Greenwich, Connecticut – a four-hour drive away. The boys and girls swam against Brunswick and Greenwich Academy, respectively. Both of Big Red’s teams dominated the meet, with the boys scoring 104-79 and the girls scoring 120-66. The meet marked a good start to the season, with great performances from both teams and many memorable swims and times.
Lower Nick Limoli took first in diving, totaling a whopping 207.53 points to secure his spot. He implemented a new dive into his routine, a forward double somersault pike, with a difficulty degree of 2.3. “I got a new dive the day before the meet and was a little bit worried about it,” Limoli said, but he managed to execute the dive successfully. Limoli stated a highlight of the meet was “team bonding” and he aims to continue getting new dives.
On the swimming side of things, the team had a fantastic meet. Despite the exhausting drive, the competitors were still able to bring their all, some even achieving a personal best during the meet. Head coach Don Mills said that it was a “very fun meet. The girls dominated, and the boys won in exciting fashion.”
One of lower Mena Boardman’s favorite highlights of the meet was “seeing Gene touch out the Greenwich swimmer in the 200 freestyle.”
The team brought a lot of energy to the meet. “There was a good spirit. The girls were against a different school, but we were in the same pool, so everyone could watch the races,” said prep Sebastien TranPham.
The layout of the meet allowed the team to watch and support each other throughout the meet.
The team not only focuses on the technique of the swimmers but also the relationships among the team members. According to senior Michael Yang, the team has “an especially tight-knit group of guys that link well with the girls.”
“Our strong group of preps really helps carry the energy at meets,” shared Yang. The team’s spirit amps up the members, helping them bring their best to the meets and perform outstandingly.
The swim team looks to continue a strong start to their season, aiming to place well in Interschols at Andover, which will take place at the end of the term. Both the boys and girls now hold undefeated, 2-0 records.
“We have a Deerfield meet coming up. So some people are trying to go to the morning practices, some people are going to like dry land,” said TranPham.
This energy is radiating throughout the team, with other preps like Allen Klingel saying, “Deerfield is obviously a great team, and it’ll be a very close swim meet we hopefully win…we’ve been training really hard this week.”
The team has been working hard to extend their winning streak, and looking forward to the teams’ participation in upcoming meets, many are excited to put their hard work to the test. Both the boys and girls teams are looking forward to bringing home even more wins, especially with Eastern Interscholastic Swim Championships and New England Interschols approaching rapidly. The team’s main goal moving forward into the season, Boardman said, is to, “win Interschols again.”