But the Golden Warriors have set their goals a bit higher. They want a police escort - after the state championship meet, of course.

Andover captured nine straight state titles between 1999 and 2007. And the town showed its support, welcoming back the champions with a police escort - crowds cheering, sirens blaring.

The ritual developed into an annual rite of November, until last year, when Andover was upended by Chelmsford in the state final. So the motivation for this year’s Golden Warrior squad was simple: Bring the police escort back.

“The whole theme is to get the blue-light ride back into town,’’ said coach Marilyn Fitzgerald. “That was their goal. At first the freshmen didn’t understand, and the sophomores have never had the ride, either, so the older kids really feel they have to pass this down to the underclassmen, that this is a tradition for everyone who came before and everyone who will come after.’’

The Andover swimming program is built on tradition. The Golden Warriors have spirit days each year, in which they dress up in costumes. They decorate Fitzgerald’s lawn, porch, and car with toilet paper before the conference championship meet.

The tradition runs deeper than just yearly rituals, though. This year’s squad features 12 swimmers who have had siblings come through the program prior. Nine of those had sisters who swam on state title teams. There are six sets of sisters on the current team: Katie and Maggie D’Innocenzo, Audrey and Laura Hanson, Clara and Laura Kim, Ashlee and Alexa Korsberg, Hannah and Melissa Radonesce, Britney and Mikaela Ross - fostering a true appreciation and understanding of what it means to swim for Andover.

“Some of these kids watched us from the time they were fourth- or fifth-grade,’’ Fitzgerald said. “They couldn’t wait until it was their time.’’

This year’s Golden Warriors squad has distinguished itself from state championship squads of years past because of its youth, a roster listing 16 freshmen, almost all of whom have made significant contributions to the team’s success, along with defending state champions Monica Patterson (200 freestyle), a junior, and sophomore Rachel Moore (100-meter fly).

Fitzgerald likened this year’s freshman class to the first class that won a state championship in 1999. Diver Deborah Daley, Emma Cammann (sprint freestyle), and the Korsberg twins, Alexa and Ashlee, all have been impact performers in their first year.

“We’ve just had an incredible influx of freshman girls that have had immediate impact,’’ she said.

Because of the program’s rich tradition and history, the freshmen understand how important their contributions have been this season. They also understand what it would mean to the upperclassmen to receive a police escort back into town.

“I would just be really excited to be part of that and to see that, and from what everyone says, it’s really amazing and so much fun,’’ said Daley.

The seniors on the team have taken it upon themselves to instill the sense of tradition in the freshmen and sophomores.

“We do talk about it a lot, how cool it is to win states and how much we do want it back,’’ said Colleen Hespeler, a senior captain and backstroker. “Our freshmen have helped us a lot in our big wins this year and I think, just being in the town and growing up, they know how big a tradition the swim team is and how much of a loss it was for all of us to lose last year. We don’t have to do much to make them want to win, they want it as much as we do.’’

For Hespeler and the rest of the seniors, it’s also a last chance to reestablish dominance and continue a longstanding tradition that experienced a hiccup last season. They feel responsible for recapturing Andover’s glory.

With each performance this season, and more and more individuals qualifying for the sectionals (MIT, this Saturday) and state meet (Harvard, Nov. 28), they have certainly made an impression on their coach.

Now all that’s left to be done is to get those sirens blaring again in Andover.

“Obviously we’re hoping to win, that’s our goal - to win states,’’ said Hespeler. “It’s awesome. Getting the police escort back, chasing the blue lights, that’s on our T-shirts. We definitely want to win.’’

Jonathan Raymond can be reached at jraymond@globe.com.