Andres Dupont Takes Down 20-Year-Old Bolles School 200 Freestyle Record

At the FHSAA 1A state meet last weekend, Andres Dupont broke a legendary Bolles School record in the 200 freestyle. His time of 1:35.60 cut .21 off of Clay Kirkland’s old record of 1:35.81, which was set in 2000.

The record withstood an entire generation of some of the school’s greatest swimmers, including Olympians Ryan Murphy, Joseph Schooling, and Santo Condorelli. (Note: Although American Caeleb Dressel swam for the Bolles School Sharks club team as an age-grouper, he did not attend the Bolles School itself.)

“Prior to the race, I was feeling nervous as this was the first big race I had to swim since joining Bolles, but as I stood behind the blocks, I could feel the energy from my teammates cheering me on and I remembered the hours I spent grinding in the pool,” Dupont said while reflecting on the race. “As I led the race from the start, my confidence increased, 50 by 50 the lead increased between myself and my competitors, I kept my mind on the race and focused on maintaining my speed and technique. When I looked up at the scoreboard, I was ecstatic. The 1:35.60 was a time I was not expecting, after the race, my teammates congratulated me and at that moment I realized that I am capable of going faster.”

He acknowledges that in order to swim a faster time, he has several things to work on. 

“After carefully analyzing my video, I concluded that I can work on 4 specific things. Firstly my starts, specifically on my entrance to the water, making sure that my body is in the correct position. Secondly, my underwaters, by increasing the frequency of my dolphin kicks and exaggerating the movement of the hips coming all the way from the core. Thirdly my turns, by “attacking the wall” and compacting my body so that the transaction between every lap is even faster. Lastly, the frequency of my stroke, by founding the perfect tempo and making every cycle the most efficient possible.”

Dupont recently enrolled at the Bolles School, leaving his native country of Mexico, where he had competed in several national-level competitions. 

Andres Dupont, 2020 FHSAA 1A Championships

Since coming to the United States, his training regime has changed drastically, as reflected in his impressive swims. Currently, he says his schedule is, “On Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, we have a double session, Tuesday and Friday we have a single afternoon session, on Saturday we have a morning session and we use Sunday as a recovery day.” 

Andres Dupont with Bolles School head coach Peter Verhoef, 2020 FHSAA 1A Championships

Although COVID-19 has left much of the swimming up in the air, Dupont is still targeting several goals, “I want to break the state record not only on the 200 freestyle by Caeleb Dressel set in 2013,” he says, “but also the state record of the 100 Freestyle by Ryan Murphy set in 2013.” Dressel’s record currently stands at a 1:34.69, while Murphy’s is a 42.95.

A current junior in high school, Dupont says that he is looking forward to swimming in college, and is interested in attending the University of California- Berkeley or the University of Texas. “I am very interested in a college program that has a great team spirit, in which teammates support each other, has a great training program that will help me reach my athletic goals, has a high-level academic program that supports greatly in swimming, and lastly a college program that supports my academic goals as well,” Dupont stated. “With that being said, my main goal is to join the swimming programs of The University of California-Berkeley or The University of Texas at Austin, both of which I think could help me fulfill my necessities.”