Varsity Swim and Dive Wins
By Ellen Jin and Amy Lin
On Saturday, Jan. 7, the Exeter boys and girls varsity swim and dive teams defeated Brunswick/Greenwich Academy, the boys winning 97-88 against Brunswick and the girls 101-77 over Greenwich.
History was stacked against the Exeter swim teams, as no swimmer on the team had experienced a win over Brunswick/Greenwich. The girls were able to win by a respectable margin, whereas the boys’ scores came down to the last relay. Swimmers kept the energy up during the meet by cheering for each other and fostering a team spirit.
As Brunswick/Greenwich was known to be strong competitors, as well as coming off winter break, the team needed to prepare well for the meet. Boys varsity head coach Don Mills commented on expectations and preparations going into the meet. “We knew it was going to be a close, hard-fought meet. We talked about it before the team left for vacation and it gave the boys added motivation to train.”
Girls varsity captain and senior Nat Kpodonu added, “To prepare, since we’d just come from break, we had a practice dedicated to getting back into shape.” She continued to reflect on the preparations it takes: “Swimming is also a very mental sport, so making sure that we were fully ready to race was very important.”
Throughout the meet, girls’ varsity head coach Nicole Benson was calm. “I am confident in my swimmers and I trust that they will do what they can and will always give 100 percent effort.”
Mills observed the energy of the swimmers throughout the races. “We kept the energy high and everyone knew what was going on with the score and what we needed from each event.”
Kpodonu took particular notice of the interactions between the swimmers as this is the first season with a combined girls and boys team. “I was happy to see that when the swimmers weren’t racing, they were standing behind a teammate’s lane cheering, and when they were racing, they were putting their all into going faster times.”
Kpodonu shared her enthusiasm and mentioned a highlight from the meet: the announcement of the scores. “While I know the underclassmen were very proud of the win, I think the seniors and coaches in particular were about to pass out from excitement. The coaches had mentioned that this was the first time in years we’d beat these two teams, and for the seniors, the last time we’d raced them was prep year due to the disruptions of covid, and we were crushed.”
Upper Ellie Wang commented on the victory. “We are all even more motivated to keep training and racing at our upcoming meets!”
Mills added, “It certainly built the confidence of the team and we all can see what we can accomplish when we take care of each other.”
This pair of swim wins leaves the team optimistic for the future and carries this winning momentum forward. Kpodonu has high hopes. “The win of this meet also shows us how much potential we have as a team.”
Benson is looking forward to the rest of the season. “Winning this meet is such fun. The team seems to be excited for the championship meets coming up, Easterns and New England Champs.”
