RallyNorth.net

Sun, Nov 21, 2010 12:00 PM @ Andover

Team	Final
Haverhill	0
Andover	0

Andover swimming wins state title

Sunday, November, 21 By Christopher Smith
Staff writer

 

BOSTON — Andover junior Rachel Moore was sitting in the stands in 2006 at Harvard University's Blodgett Pool when Lauren English set the pool record in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 54.40 seconds.   

"I've known about the record for quite a while because when I was 11 I came to the U.S. Sectional meet and I saw Lauren English break that record and set it," Moore said. "I saw it when I was 11 and I was like, 'Oh, my gosh. She's so fast. That's so crazy.'"  

Flash forward four years. Moore, swimming for Andover High in the Division 1 state meet yesterday, broke English's Blodgett Pool record by finishing in 54.27. 

"I can't believe I broke that and that my name is going to be up on that wall," Moore said. "I am just astonished." 

Every pool record time, along with the name of the record-setting swimmer, both male and female, at the facility makes the wall.

Moore set a state meet record time in both the 100-yard backstroke (54.27) and 100-yard butterfly (53.56) to help Andover win the Division 1 state title yesterday at Harvard University. It was Andover's second straight title.

Andover won with 357.5 points. Acton-Boxborough came in second (225 points). Chelmsford (187 points) took third.

Haverhill (98 points) finished fifth. Central Catholic (63 points) took seventh. Methuen (four points) came in 16th.  

"The basic aspect of our team is that we're all here supporting each other and we push each other," Moore said. "To be a part of the state champion Andover Warrior girls swim and dive, it's such an honor. I've been like dreaming about being on this team since I was a little kid. You watch it growing up and you can't wait until you're part of it. You think, 'How could it get any better than what you see growing up?' And you join the team and you can't believe the team aspect — how we're all supporting each other and we all have the same goals."   

Andover coach Marilyn Fitzgerald said Moore's name likely would be placed on the Blodgett Pool wall within the week. 

Moore doesn't have to take a special trip to the pool to see it because she practices at the Blodgett Pool every weekend with her club team, Crimson Aquatics. 

"I'll see it so it will be exciting," Moore said. 

Moore actually is close to breaking a national high school record in the 100 butterfly. The record is 52.41 and was set by Misty Hyman in 1996. So Moore, who still has her entire senior year ahead of her, is just a little over 1 second from trying or breaking the record. 

"I'll obviously keep training as hard as I can all this year and I'll keep it in the back of my mind," Moore said. "But to even come close to a national record, that is amazing. I never even thought I would be anywhere near it." 

Fitzgerald said that former Andover star and University of Texas sophomore Nick D'Innocenzo is the only Andover swimmer ever to break and hold a national high school record. Fitzgerald said D'Innocenzo earned the national record in the 200 individual medley as a senior. 

"It is one of the single most difficult things to do – to even come close to a national record," Fitzgerald said. "And we've got kids on the verge of it, so it's very exciting." 

Moore broke her previous state meet record time in the 100 backstroke. Actually, she and former Andover star swimmer and Texas Longhorns swimmer Connie Brown both shared the 100 backstroke state meet record with a 55.80 before yesterday when Moore knocked over 1 second off that time. 

Moore said she has never spoken to Brown, who is Fitzgerald's granddaughter, but Brown sent her a University of Texas swim cap before the state meet two years ago. The cap was autographed and Brown wrote "Good Luck" on it. 

Yesterday, Moore also broke her own state meet record in the 100 butterfly, which she had set at last year's state meet.