Swimming and Diving Teams Achieve Best Times and Break School Records

Over the March 6-7 weekend, Girls’ and Boys’ Swimming and Diving made their annual pilgrimage to New Englands, which this year was hosted by Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Conn. Both teams produced performances replete with best times and even broke school records.

Leading the girls was Rebecca Wardell '11, who swam best times in the preliminary heats of the 100 Fly and set a new Westminster School record in the 100 Breaststroke (1:11.84). In the evening finals, she placed 14th in the 100 Fly (1:02.48) and lowered her own school record in the 100 Breast to 1:11.74, good for a 10th place finish. Co-captain Katie Adams '10 also had a big day, with best times in both the 50 Free (26.62) and 100 Free (59.42). Emily Teschner '12 swam best times in the 50 Free (27.54) and the 100 Fly (1:08.28), and Emily Schwartz broke the one-minute barrier for the first time as she led off the 400 Free Relay with a time of 59.87. That relay (Schwartz, Teschner, Adams, and Wardell) shaved more than seven seconds off of their best time this season (3:57.93), placing 15th. Those four girls teamed up in the 200 Medley Relay to place 9th with a time of 1:59.52, four seconds faster than their previous best. The squad ultimately took 15th place.

For the boys, the top point-winner was co-captain Colin McLaughlin '10, who shaved 6 seconds off his season-best time in the 200 IM to finish 11th with a time of 2:02.70, and dropped more than 2 seconds in his 100 Breaststroke to place 12th with a time of 1:03.99. Captain Connor O'Brien '10 hacked two seconds off his 100 Fly to place 13th with a time of 55.56, and Javier Vargas '10 placed 13th in the 50 Freestyle with a 22.56. Those three boys combined with Jake Cahill '12 to place 8th in the 200 Medley Relay (1:44.12), and with Conor Mullen '12 to snatch 11th place in the 400 Freestyle Relay (3:23.59). Cullen Matt '13 added to the Martlet total with a score of 257.70 in the diving event, good for 14th place. The boys were in top form and high spirits as they outpaced perennial rivals Williston-Northampton, Kingswood-Oxford, and Loomis Chaffee in the final team standings to earn 10th place.