Girls Swimming & Diving Still Unbeaten 400m Relay Clinches Key Victory over Powerhouse Andover
By Rohit Shankar ’09
News Reporter
With many high hopes entering the season, the Varsity Girls Swimming and Diving team has been destined for great accomplishments. So far, the girls have proved just that. Through the first three dual meets of the season, the girls have impressed their opponents on all three occasions. They also had a strong meet at the Deerfield Relays back in December, winning five of the ten races held at the relay competition in which scores were not recorded. The team has lofty ambitions this winter. “One of our team goals is to have an undefeated season this year since we were so close last year,” said Co-captain, Kristy Zera ’08. The season has gotten off to an amazing start, but there is still much work left to be done during the stretch-run for the Girls Varsity Swimming and Diving team.
Dual Meet Perfection
Of the three dual meets on the year, two were lopsided wins for Choate over Suffield and Northfield Mount Hermon. In these two meets, Choate dominated its opponents using its impressive depth and experience to overpower the opponents. The margins of victory in both these meets were by over 80 points. However, the best moment of the year was the huge 95-90 away victory in a dual meet over perennial powerhouse Andover. There were several timely performances, including those by Caroline Wilson ’09 and Cori West ’10 in the 200 meter Freestyle Race, and by freshman Jaime Hillas ’11 in the 200 meter Individual Medley and 100 meter Breaststroke. Also coming up with huge wins were Katie Kaspar ’10 in the 100 meter Fly, and Carlin Dacey ’08, who was victorious in the 1 meter diving. The last race of the meet would decide the winner of the day. The 400 Free relay of Ariel Baugh ‘08, Hillas, Kaspar and Wilson took an early lead, but according to Coach Sara Massa, Choate was still behind when the final swimmer hit the water, but great swims had set up Wilson to drive past Andover’s anchor for the win. These were just some of the highlights of the Andover meet, as every single swimmer contributed to the great result. The meet proved that Choate has the depth that many of its competitors lack. Also, Zera was very impressed with the way the team was able to handle the close finish. “As we saw in the Andover meet, our team knows how to finish strong in close races so we are confident about the outcome.”
Season outlook
There are still several major hurdles that are yet to be tackled by Choate’s swimmers and divers. The largest test looming for the team is its dual meet against Phillips Exeter Academy on January 26. “Our biggest challenge is going to be our home meet against Exeter. They have been a swimming powerhouse in the past, and this is the first year we race them before New England’s,” said Hunter. Another huge meet for the team is the contest against Hopkins on February 6. Last year, Hopkins was Choate’s only blemish on its dual season record and the girls really hope to reverse the result this year. There are seven more dual meets on the schedule this year, and there’s a good chance this year’s team will be able to achieve perfection en route to strong finish at the Western New England and New England Competitions. As Zera puts it, “Looking at our times, our team is definitely stronger, and the adrenaline will definitely help.”
Julia Fram ’08 butterflies her way to a third place finish which helped Choate defeat Andover on January 5th./PhotoMorris
