The WA Boys’ Swim and Dive team finished second overall at their State Meet, which was held at the Phillips Academy’s Pan Athletic Center in Andover on Sunday, Feb. 23.
At the meet, there were a total of 24 teams from Massachusetts competing. Eight swimmers were competing for WA including seniors Owen Curtin, Han Park, Sahil Dua, and Nicholas Scarano, juniors Andrew Sperry, Aaron Gao, and Charlie Small, and freshman Jacob Barrett.
The team achieved a handful of accomplishments over the weekend, with one of the major ones being Curtin’s first place finish in the 100-yard butterfly race. There were a total of 12 other high schoolers competing in the event, and in this high-stakes race, Curtin made his personal record for the event, finishing in 51.76 seconds
“In the regular season I had also won the 100 fly at our DCL meet making all-conference in that event,” Curtin said. “This was big for me as it had given me hope to do well as the post season was starting.”
Provided by Owen Curtin
Scarano came in 12th overall in the 200-yard freestyle race, and 14th in the 100-yard freestyle race. Both of these races marked his personal bests for the events. Additionally, the 400-yard freestyle relay team placed 9th overall and the 200-yard freestyle relay placed third overall.
“[Our second place finish at States] was very unexpected, as we only had 7 individual competitors swimming across multiple different events,” Scarano said. “To pull off a second place against nearly full teams was unexpected but very exciting and a testament to the hard work and dedication our team put in over the season.”
Seven out of the eight WA swimmers were upperclassmen, however Barrett, despite being less experienced on team, made a significant impact on WA’s success at the meet by performing well in the 200-yard freestyle, 100-yard breast, and 400-yard freestyle relay events.
Provided by Nicholas Scarano
According to Scarano, at the Pan Athletic Center, the energy was high and WA felt prepared as they had been preparing for the meet for several weeks. The original date for the State Meet was Sunday, Feb. 16, but inclement weather pushed the date back one weekend. Therefore, the swimmers were able to spend more time practicing in preparation for the competition.
“As a team, we had started preparing for the meet a little over two weeks out,” Curtin said. “Collectively we had all really put our all into the practices, taking it seriously with the more time given, along with making sure that we were doing what we needed to recover.”
Due to Curtin’s accomplishments at the state tournament, he will be competing in future club swim meets at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), and will later be at the sectional meet at Ithaca College.
The swimmers who competed are proud of their successful seasons and look forward to watching their younger teammates grow as swimmers and divers.
“I’m proud of our whole team,” Curtin said. “Collectively we did well in the regular season, showing up every day and putting it all into practice. Without everyone we wouldn’t be the team we are today.”
