By Ken Hansard
Andover High’s swim team won every swim meet except one last year and capped off their season by winning the Kansas State 5-1A Championship. They lost two seniors from that team who were major point scorers, but with the return of senior Ian Diefenbach, and with several underclassmen who have stepped in successfully, the Trojans have continued their dominance. With just one week left until State, Andover has had an impressive season. The Trojans, who won league at the AVCTL (Division II) meet, have not lost a single meet, winning every competition by at least 50 points.
As a senior, Diefenbach sees his role as a team captain, “I’m almost like the team dad. Sometimes I have to ensure my teammates are focused and not messing around. At the same time I want everyone to have fun.”
Diefenbach, along with three other Trojans, holds a state record in the 400 freestyle relay, and Ian has his sights on a sectionals record in the 100 freestyle. He won all of his events at league except for the 100 backstroke, where he finished second. However, Diefenbach’s primary focus is team, and his goals include placing first in both the 200 and 400 freestyle relays and hopefully winning another team State
Championship. “It would be an awesome way to finish off my high school career. Last year, the City of Andover gave us a proclamation, naming a day Andover High School Boys Swim Team Day.”
Diefenbach considers the Wichita Invite, hosted by East High at the Wichita Swim Club, to be one of his favorite competitions. “It is a prelims and finals meet. If you are ranked first in the morning, you get to choose a walkout song for the final, a 1 on 1 event between the #1 and #2 seeds. I performed well enough to do a few walkouts. It was really cool; they had fog machines and disco lights.”
In addition to swimming for Andover these past four years, Diefenbach has also run varsity cross country for four years and has been a track and field athlete for two years.
Diefenbach plans to study law at the University of Kansas.
