swimmers pose near pool
85% Personal-Best Performances; 35 New Records; 22 All-American Swims
(Lancaster, PA) — Fueled by many best times, records, and All-American performances, the Phillips Academy (Andover) Boys’ Varsity Swimming and Diving Team won the 119th Eastern Swimming & Diving Championships. Historically, more national records have been set at the Eastern championships than at any other meet, and it is among the most prestigious high-school meets in the nation. Across the two-day competition, Andover student-athletes competed in 35 events and achieved personal-bests in 29; across 24 relay legs, Andover achieved best-ever times in 21. With so much success, it is difficult to highlight only a few performances, yet four, in particular, stand out.
In the 200 Medley Relay, Jack Warden ’19 (22.94), Captain Neil Simpson ’19 (24.95), Lance Freiman ’19 (21.29), and Arnold Su ’20 (20.24) established new Eastern, New England, Pool (Franklin & Marshall College), and School records by swimming 1:29.42. This is the 7th-fastest time in the history of high-school swimming, and it is currently the fastest time swum this year in the nation. WATCH
In the 200 Freestyle, Max Hunger ’20 broke the Eastern, New England, Pool, and School records in 1:37.45. WATCH
In the 100 Butterfly, Freiman broke the oldest Eastern record—set by Olympic Gold Medalist Melvin Stewart in 1987—by swimming 48.08. This time also broke the New England and School records. WATCH
Finally, in the 400 Freestyle Relay, Hunger, Freiman, Su, and Simpson swam 3:00.91, which broke the New England, Pool, and School records. This is also the fastest time swum so far this year in the nation and would have placed 5th in the nation last year. WATCH
“To come to Easterns, a meet with such a storied history—current and former record-holders include Gustavo Borges, Mel Stewart, Nelson Diebel, Fran Crippen, and Reece Whitley—and to be able to perform so well is both thrilling and satisfying. Our sole focus this season has been to prepare for Easterns, and our swimmers and divers delivered when the stakes were highest,” said Head Coach David Fox.
For Captain Neil Simpson ’19, “Easterns this year is definitely a meet I will remember for a long time. So many people stepped up and swam fast when we needed it most. Every class made significant contributions to the team’s success. Brendon Fang led the class of ’22 with a great swim in the 100 Breast, bringing in valuable points for the team.”
“The team’s performance at Easterns emerged from so much, particularly the great work of Assistant Coach Gardner as well as the terrific leadership of Jacob Hudgins ’19,” concluded Fox. “In addition to having their own great Easterns, the members of the Girls’ Swimming & Diving Team and Coach Murphy were constantly cheering and supporting the members of the Boys’ Team, and our parents who were able to attend were terrific. And I am grateful, too, for all the positive collegiality from meet officials as well as other coaches, athletes, and parents. Easterns is such a welcoming meet, and everyone is committed to just swimming fast.”
Number of times members of the Andover Boys’ Swimming & Diving Team broke a record at Easterns:
Eastern—2
New England—6
Pool—4
Upper—8
Lower—2
School—13
Results:
200 Medley Relay
Jack Warden ‘19 (22.94), Neil Simpson ‘19 (24.95), Lance Freiman ‘19 (21.29), Arnold Su ‘20 (20.24)1:29.42
EASTERN, NEW ENGLAND, POOL, SCHOOL Records
All American
1st Place
Prelim Time: 1:30.48 also NEW ENGLAND and SCHOOL Records and ALL-AMERICAN
Harvey Zheng (27.58), Yubo Jin (25.14), Rick Ono (24.68), Andy Xu (21.82)1:39.22
200 Freestyle
Max Hunger ‘20
1:37.45
NEW ENGLAND, POOL, UPPER, SCHOOL Records
All American
1st PlacePrelim Time: 1:30.70 also NEW ENGLAND, POOL, UPPER, and SCHOOL Records and All American
Anthony Minickiello ‘20
1:45.322
1st PlacePrelim Time: 1:45.20
Riku Tanaka ‘20
1:47.29
24th Place
Prelim Time: 1:45.79
Hank Yang
1:50.99
200 Individual Medley
Neil Simpson ‘19
1:49.96
SCHOOL Record
All American
2nd Place
Yubo Jin ‘21
1:59.70
18th Place
Rick Ono ‘19
2:01.13
23rd Place
Brendon Fang ‘22
2:01.74
Max Fang ‘22
2:01.76
Harvey Zheng ‘19
2:04.63
50 Free
Arnold Su ’20
21.08
7th Place
Prelim Time: 20.89 UPPER Record and All American
Marcus Lee ’21
21.44
12th Place
Andy Xu ’19
22.64
24th Place
Prelim Time: 22.32
Ralph Lam
22.90
100 Butterfly
Lance Freiman ’19
48.27
All American
1st Place
Prelim Time: 48.08 EASTERN, NEW ENGLAND, SCHOOL Records and All American
Sam Donchi ’20
49.75
All American
5th Place
Jack Warden ’19
50.55
11th Place
200 Freestyle Relay
Jack Warden ’19 (21.26)
Max Hunger ’20 (20.93)
Marcus Lee ’21 (21.24)
Sam Donchi ’20 (21.06)
1:24.49
SCHOOL Record
All American
4th Place
Prelim Time: 1:25.28 SCHOOL Record and All American
Anthony Minickiello (23.09)
Rick Ono (23.56)
Harvey Zheng (22.68)
Andy Xu (22.06)
1:31.19
Team Scores Through the 200 Freestyle Relay
302 Andover
251.5 Episcopal
246 Brunswick
237 Mercersburg
213 The Hill
197 Malvern Prep
Diving
Zack Peng ‘21
414.60
LOWER Record
3rd Place
Ora Cullen ‘19
329.65
10th Place
100 Freestyle
Lance Freiman ’19
45.30
SCHOOL Record
All American
4th Place
Arnold Su ’20
45.40
Upper Record
All American
6th Place
Prelim Time: 45.87 UPPER Record
Marcus Lee ’21
45.85
8th Place
Andy Xu ’19
49.13
28th Place
Ralph Lam ’22
49.85
41st Place
500 Freestyle
Max Hunger ’20
4:30.23
All American
5th Place
Prelim Time: 4:28.86 SCHOOL and UPPER Records
Sam Donchi ’20
4:37.18
ALL AMERICAN
6th Place
Prelim Time: 4:30.60 SCHOOL and UPPER Records
Anthony Minickiello ’20
4:42.66
15th Place
Prelim Time: 1:41.36
Riku Tanaka
4:51.33
21st Place
Prelim Time: 4:49.13
Hank Yang ’22
4:58.92
100 Backstroke
Jack Warden ’19
50.01
All American
5th Place
Harvey Zheng ’19
56.11
100 Breaststroke
Yubo Jin ’21
56.91
LOWER Record
All American
3rd Place
Brendon Fang ’22
1:00.49
16th Place
Prelim Time: 1:00.08
Rick Ono ’19
1:01.97
Max Fang ’19
1:03.08
400 Freestyle Relay
Hunger (45.31) UPPER Record
Freiman (45.10)
Su (44.71)
Simpson (45.79)
3:00.91
NEW ENGLAND, POOL, SCHOOL Records
All American
1st Place
Prelim Time: 3:02.65 SCHOOL Record
Anthony Minickiello ’20 (50.52)
Marcus Lee ’21 (46.25)
Sam Donchi ’20 (46.92)
Riku Tanaka ’20 (49.24)
3:12.93
Final Team Standings
610 Andover
486.5 Episcopal Academy
427 Malvern Prep Academy
426 Brunswick School
400 Mercersburg Academy
361 Haverford School
358 Germantown Academy
339 Hill School
300.5 Georgetown Prep
288 Phillips Exeter Academy
281 Gonzaga
190 Peddie