(Lancaster, PA) – Since 1935, the Eastern Swimming and Diving Championships has been the most prestigious high school competition in the United States. With more national records set at Easterns than any other, the meet has been dominated historically by some of legendary programs in swimming history: Bolles, Germantown, Mercersburg, and Peddie, among others.
After a 40-year hiatus, Andover returned to the Eastern Championships in 2013 and placed 4th, which it again accomplished in 2014—a meet that included Andover’s first-ever Easterns relay win (200 Medley). For a couple of reasons, Andover missed a few Easterns but returned in 2017. Since 2017, Andover has five championships, three runner-ups, and one third-place finish.
Entering the 2026 meet, Andover knew it needed two remarkable preliminary sessions that transcended its seeds. Across those two preliminary sessions, Andover outperformed its seeds by more than 230 points. No other team outperformed its seeds by more than 70 points—most barely matched them. Indeed, as several Andover parents and coaches across Easterns noted, the 2026 performance may have been Andover’s best, even though it did not end in a championship.
Across the meet, Andover swimmers achieved personal best times in 87% of swims, a remarkable accomplishment.
Certainly, a highlight of the meet was in the 4 x 50 Free Relay. Lincoln Tomlinson ‘27 broke Jay Wei’s Upper Record, set just about 60 minutes prior, by leading off the first 50 in 20.60. Wei ’27 followed in 20.11. Cale Barker ’28, fresh off setting the Lower Record in the 50 Free split 20.20, and Oliver Stabach ’26 anchored in 20.51. The final time—1:21.42—set new EASTERN, NEW ENGLAND, and SCHOOL Records. You can watch the race here. Andover is in the middle with Tomlinson wearing the white cap, and Spire Academy from Ohio is above in the black cap.
Since 2014, Andover has now, at some point, held the Eastern Record in each of the three relays as well as in six of the eleven swimming events, a remarkable achievement for a program set within the larger project of an Andover education.
Full Results:
200 Medley Relay
Woori Lee ’26 (23.83) (Personal Best)
Ethan Zhu ’26 (25.84) (Personal Best)
Cale Barker ’28 (21.85) (Personal Best)
Nick Koura ’26 (21.54) (Personal Best)
1:33.06
4th Place
Eric Chang ’28 (24.53) (Personal Best)
Soohan Cho ’29 (29.85) (Personal Best)
Eric Nie ’26 (23.20) (Personal Best)
Owen Huang ’27 (22.74) (Personal Best)
1:40.32
200 Freestyle
Oliver Stabach ‘26
1:40.48
6th Place
Eric Chang ‘28
1:44.22 (Personal Best)
18th Place
Simba Xiong ‘28
1:45.96 (Personal Best)
22nd
Haoyu Zhang ‘27
1:46.38 (Personal Best)
23rd
Beckett Kavanagh ‘29
1:49.01 (Personal Best)
38th
Ryan Loh ‘28
1:57.54
63rd
200 Individual Medley
Eric Nie ‘26
1:54.81 / 1:53.92 (Prelims Personal Best)
8th
Woori Lee ‘26
1:56.73 / 1:55.71 (Prelims)
15th
Soohan Cho ’29
2:03.65 (Personal Best)
32nd
50 Freestyle
Jay Wei ‘27
20.66 (Personal Best)
3rd
UPPER RECORD
Cale Barker ‘28
20.74 (Personal Best)
4th
LOWER RECORD
Nicholas Koura ‘26
21.96 / 21.92 (Prelims Personal Best)
22nd
Owen Huang ‘27
23.51 (Personal Best)
48th
100 Butterfly
Lincoln Tomlinson ‘27
49.16 (Personal Best)
4th (T)
UPPER RECORD
Ethan Zhu ‘26
52.04 / 51.82 (Prelims)
14th
Ian Kim ‘28
56.17
49th
200 Freestyle Relay
Lincoln Tomlinson ’27 (20.60) UPPER RECORD (Personal Best)
Jay Wei ’27 (20.11) (Personal Best)
Cale Barker ’28 (20.20) (Personal Best)
Oliver Stabach (20.51) (Personal Best)
1:21.42
1st
EASTERN, NEW ENGLAND, SCHOOL RECORDS
Simba Xiong ’28 (22.24) (Personal Best)
Nick Koura ’26 (21.98)
Owen Huang’ 27 (23.33) (Personal Best)
Ethan Zhu ’26 (21.27) (Personal Best)
1:28.82
Diving
David Frahm ’26
290.70 (Personal Best)
7th
Victor Hillier ’28
215.00 (Personal Best)
17th
100 Freestyle
Lincoln Tomlinson ’27
44.91 (Personal Best)
2nd
UPPER RECORD
Oliver Stabach ‘26
45.54 / 45.43 (Prelim Personal Best)
6th
Cale Barker ‘28
46.34 (Personal Best)
10th
Simba Xiong ‘28
47.70 (Personal Best)
22nd
Nick Koura ‘26
48.94 (Personal Best)
31st
Owen Huang ‘27
50.41 (Personal Best)
43rd
500 Freestyle
Beckett Kavanagh ‘29
4:47.10 / 4:46.04 (Prelim Personal Best)
15th
Eric Nie ‘26
4:47.31 / 4:46.61 (Prelim)
19th
Haoyu Zhang ‘27
4:58.28 / 4:53.96 (Prelim Personal Best)
24th
Ryan Loh ‘28
5:16.67
44th
100 Backstroke
Jay Wei ‘27
50.67 (Personal Best)
8th
Eric Chang ‘28
52.08 (Personal Best)
14th
Ian Kim ‘28
55.06 (Personal Best)
31st
100 Breast
Ethan Zhu ‘26
58.70 (Personal Best)
7th
Woori Lee ‘26
58.98 (Personal Best)
16th
Soohan Cho ‘29
1:04.23 ((Personal Best)
47th
400 Freestyle Relay
Lincoln Tomlinson ’27 (44.82) (Personal Best) UPPER RECORD
Jay Wei ’27 (44.91) (Personal Best)
Oliver Stabach ’26 (44.88) (Personal Best)
Woori Lee ’26 (46.35) (Personal Best)
3:00.96
2nd
Haoyu Zhang ’27 (48.70) (Personal Best)
Eric Chang ’28 (47.98) (Personal Best)
Simba Xiong ’28 (48.70) (Personal Best)
Eric Nie ’26 (47.64) (Personal Best)
3:13.02
Team Scores
Mercersburg Academy (673)
ANDOVER (528.50)
Spire Academy (444)
Germantown Academy (388)
Phillips Exeter Academy (384)
Brunswick Academy (378)
Malvern Preparatory School (360.50)
Georgetown Preparatory School (345)
Peddie School (196)
The Albany Academy (196)