Henderson's Fink no laughing matter in pool

 

By DENNY DYROFF

There is an ancient Italian proverb “Ride bene chi ride l’ultimo” which translated to English means, “He who laughs last laughs best.”
After the final event on the final day of the 2008 PIAA Class AAA Swimming Championships, West Chester Henderson’s Andrew Fink was laughing – laughing last and laughing best – laughing because he and his teammates David Baldino, David McCormick and Andrew Kosic had just won the gold medal in the 400-yard freestyle relay.
Actually, Fink was grinning from ear-to-ear because of all his performances at the highly competitive state meet.
On the first day of the two-day meet at Bucknell University’s Kinney Natatorium, Fink and the other three clocked a 1:25.42 to take first place in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Individually, Fink captured the silver medal in the 200 free with a time of 1:41.10. On the second day, Fink won the gold medal in the 100 freestyle at 46.07.
In recognition of his accomplishments, Fink has been selected as the 2008 Daily Local News Boys Swimming Athlete of the Year.
“When I was on the blocks for the 100 free at states, a thousand things were going through my mind,” said Fink. “I’d be lying to you if I said I wasn’t nervous. It was a race against the best swimmers in the state, so there was no room for error.”
Fink swam very well at the District 1 Class AAA Championships two weeks earlier, but knew he still had room for improvement. He and his mates captured bronze medals in the 200 medley relay and the 200 free relay. Individually, he placed second in both the 200 free and the 100 free.
“I lost by one one-hundredth of a second in the 100 free,” said Fink, who was touched out by Upper Dublin’s Ralph Clayton. “That doesn’t indicate effort. It’s heartbreaking when you first see the scoreboard. But, hey, what are you going to do? I was still happy with my time.”
In the Warriors’ first postseason meet of the year – the Perkiomen Valley Invitational – Fink was the gold medalist in both the 100 freestyle and the 200 freestyle events.
“At the Perk Valley Invitational, Andrew was fine-tuning his races in preparation for districts and states,” said Henderson’s veteran coach Jeff Bott. “He had a 47.1 in the 100 free which gave him a nice seed for districts.
“Andrew is very competitive. He’s always taken pride in how he performs. He is one of the most intense competitors I’ve ever coached – not only from a spirit standpoint but also from an inner drive. He doesn’t like to lose races.”
Fink, who has been a Daily Local News All Area first-team selection all four years, didn’t lose races very often during his stellar high school career.
As a freshman, the Warriors’ ace took seventh in the 100 free and 12th in the 200 free at the PIAA Class AAA Championships after winning the silver medal in the 100 freestyle and placing fourth in the 200 free at the district meet.
In his sophomore season, he took sixth in the 100 freee and seventh place in the 200 free at the PIAA Class AAA championships. At the District 1 Class AAA championships, Fink won the bronze medal in the 200 free and placed sixth in the 100 free.
Last year, Fink won the silver medal in the 200 free and the bronze medal in the 100 free at the PIAA Class AAA championships as well as the gold medal in the 200 free and the bronze medal in the 100 free at the District 1 Class AAA championships.
“Andrew’s work ethic in the water has always been solid and that’s allowed him to continually improve,” said Bott. “He puts the effort in to get stronger. That strength came through in his finishes at states this year.
“He was also part of a great leadership group with the other tri-captains Eric Stefferud and Lee Naylor. By example, he showed the younger kids how to compete. He’s loose and relaxed and then gets intense at the right time. He’s fun to watch. And, he had fun with it. He enjoyed what he was doing."