David Kennedy '60 and David Fox
(Andover, MA) – In another repercussion of the COVID-19 Pandemic, this year’s Reunion was a big one: essentially, the 50th for both the Class of 1970 and 1975, the 25th for both the Class of 1995 and 2000, and the “Commencement” Ceremony for the Class of 2020. It was a terrific weekend.
Among the highlights:
The weekend began on Thursday with Coach David Fox giving Andover Legend
John Kingery ’75 a tour of the old Borden pool and the new Christopher Lynn ‘66 pool in the Pan Athletic Center. Mr. Kingery had not returned to campus since his 25th Reunion in 2000, and it was great to see him remembering and reliving so much. And, he was surprised to receive some of his old hardware.
A 6x All American, as well as a New England Record Holder in the 200 Free, 500 Free, and 200 IM, Mr. Kingery’s School Record in the IM stood for 23 years! In 1974, he joined Jon Croll ’74, Duncan Pyle ’74, and fellow Legend Mark List ’74 at the Eastern Championships; the four combined to give Andover an incredible 4th-place finish in the team competition, a remarkable accomplishment. Mr. Kingery went on to swim at Stanford, where at PAC-10s in 1979, he split a 44.8 in the 4x100 Free Relay. To put that in perspective, only two swimmers in Andover’s history have had a faster split: Max Hunger ’20 and Arnold Su ’20 (see below).
On Saturday morning, Dan Gilbert ’90 helped arrange to have an open lap swim at the Christopher Lynn ’65 Pool. Seven people showed up by 7:15AM! Over two hours, more than 30 people showed up, including former Coach Loring Strudwick and former Captain Scott Randall ‘80—although it did not seem as though anyone younger than the Class of 1995 made it. We will see about an afternoon swim in future years!
During that open swim, Andover’s most recent swimmer to hold an individual National Record, Legend David Kennedy ’60, came to the new pool to check it out. Mr. Kennedy was a star of the Alumni Swim Meet we hosted in 2012 as part of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Andover Swimming.
Arriving at Andover as a new 11th grader from Tampa, Mr. Kennedy quickly found his way to the record board, and by the end of his senior year, he had set, and re-set, the National Record in both the 100 Fly and the 200 IM. A reporter for the Phillipian
once wrote, “Dave Kennedy set his weekly national prep school record,” and the author’s of the yearbook labeled him “Andover’s aquatic genius” and “boy porpoise,” and his fellow seniors voted him “mature” for the senior superlatives. He continued his career at Princeton, where he was a 2x All American and where his roommate, Jed Graef, won a gold medal in the 200 Back at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
During the all-Reunion lunch, Coach Fox was able to introduce Mr. Kennedy to fellow Andover and Princeton alum, Max Hunger. During his two years at Andover, Max became an 11x All American—with 7 of those in individual events, more than any other swimmer in school history—and held the New England Record in the 200 Free as well as the School Record holder in the 50 Free and 500 Free.
Beginning Saturday evening, the focus of the weekend shifted to the Class of 2020, who departed for Spring Break at the end of New Englands at Hotchkiss not knowing they would not return to campus. After a Baccalaureate service in the Chapel, which included outstanding remarks from Abi Ndikum ’20 and former Head of School John Palfrey, the members of the Class went to their “prom.”
In the middle of the prom, former School Record holder and 6x All American Sam Donchi ’20 texted asking to see the new pool. Sam, Arnold Su, Riku Tanaka ’20, and Brandon Garcia ’20 made it over and were able to see their Easterns banner. Because the 2020 Easterns win is already marked with a banner at the pool, the group decided that Sam should take the one in the photo with him. During his Post-Graduate year at Andover, Brandon was a 3x All American, and across his four years on the team, Riku was the Plunge Legend and an excellent leader. Finally, Arnold was a 15x All American—more than any other person in Andover history.
On Sunday morning, the Class of 2020 finally had its ceremony.
