The Deerfield boys team placed second overall, led by captains Totton Hefflefinger ’23, Jerry Huang ’23, and Alessandro Turchetta ’23. On March 4–5 2023, the New England Swimming and Diving Championships took place at Deerfield’s Koch Pool and the Christopher Lynn ’66 pool at Phillips Academy Andover. This was the first time in seven years that the Deerfield boys placed in the top two at New England’s.
The championships began with the diving portion, highlighted by three top-ten performances by Forrest Gao ’23, Toler Poole ’24, and Gabe Swisher-Rosa ’23. Swisher-Rosa and Poole came in tenth and eighth respectively, while Gao finished his senior season with a 2nd place podium finish.
Gao reflected on his diving career saying, “I think me becoming a diver in the first place is truly a testament to the spirit of Deerfield: one that encourages adventure and trying new things.” He further added, “I sincerely hope to continue my journey with diving outside of Deerfield, not only for the thrill of competition that I so love but also for the friends and freedom I found and will continue to find.” At the conclusion of the diving portion, Deerfield was in first place before moving into the swimming events.
Regarding his initial impressions before the competition, Turchetta said that “Going into the meet, we knew we were easily a top 4 team. If I was another team looking at the seed times [initial rankings], I wouldn’t think Deerfield had what it took to challenge the top 3 teams.” However, Turchetta knew that “if all our guys swam their best, we would be strong contenders for second against Exeter and Brunswick.”
Heffelfinger echoed Turchetta’s thoughts. “From the beginning of the season our goal was top three,” he explained. “As we approached New Englands, that looked more realistic and we started focusing on going for second, since we knew [beating] Andover was basically out of reach,” Heffelfinger added. To make sure that Deerfield could score as many points as possible, Heffelfinger explained that the “lineup was shifted going into finals, and we knew that everything had to go our way for us to reach our goals.”
The boys’ performance was highlighted by a second place finish and an All-American time in the 200 freestyle relay, raced by Heffelfinger, Daniel Wareham ’24, Vedran Gjivoje ’24, and Will Hill ’24.
After a strong finish by the boys, Turchetta said, “Placing second felt amazing. After a tough season for the team, many of our guys working through injuries or sickness, it was great to see so many good swims and results across the board. It was great to see all the hard work the guys put in pay off.”
Heffelfinger added, “The guys’ team puts in a lot of time and effort not only in practice but also outside to get extra workouts, eat well, and take care of our bodies.” Giulio Migliarina ’25 agreed with Heffelfinger, and said, “I knew everyone put in their work and did their jobs, so I was extremely happy and proud of everyone.” They both shared Turchetta’s sense of accomplishment and pride.
Looking ahead to the future of the team, Turchetta said, “I was extremely proud of all the guys. I’m gonna miss all of them but I know the program has a bright future.”