Competing against Div. I schools always brings a bit of a disadvantage for the men's swimming and diving team, but the Jumbos view the task as an opportunity to be tested and to improve. This weekend, junior diver Rob Matera met that challenge head-on, capturing wins in both the 1- and 3-meter dives on Saturday at MIT and achieving NCAA-qualifying marks.
Needing to qualify twice on one board and once on the other over the course of the season to punch his ticket to Nationals, Matera added to his previous qualifier in the 3-meter to earn a trip to the meet, to be held March 18-21.
Matera followed up the performance by coming through again for the Jumbos on Sunday against BU, winning the 3-meter dive, but the team still fell short at both meets over the weekend.
Despite the losses, the Jumbos are still confident, with the start of NESCAC Championships exactly one month away.
"Did we win either of the meets? No. Did everyone still put up awesome times indicative of a strong finish at NESCACs? Absolutely," senior quad-captain Peter Accomando said.
Sunday's meet took place at Tufts' own Hamilton Pool, changing the atmosphere of the meet from Saturday's, but not its outcome. BU defeated Tufts by a score of 176-122 as, for the second time over the weekend, senior quad-captain James Longhurst was the lone Tufts swimmer to win an event. Longhurst placed first in the 100-yard breaststroke, swimming only 0.27 seconds slower than the day before despite a lack of rest.
Matera also added a runner-up finish in the 1-meter dive, which came as one of eight second-place performances for the Jumbos. Freshman Alex Strittmatter and the Tufts "A" team were both under a second shy of winning their respective races in the 500 freestyle and the 200 medley relay. Freshman Owen Rood missed first place in the 50 yard freestyle event by just .11 seconds, beating out the third place swimmer by .35.
"Although we didn't come out on top against BU, on a lot of the close races for second, third and fourth, people were beating the swimmers next to them, and that's what's going to matter at the end of the season," Accomando said.
On Saturday, Tufts fell to MIT 182-116, again placing first in only one swimming event as Longhurst won the 100 breaststroke by 1.05 seconds to earn nine points for the Jumbos. Tufts also placed second in six events, including the 200 freestyle and the 400 medley. The second-place marks in these relay events were deflating for a Jumbo squad with high expectations.
"It seemed like some people were expecting to swim all-time bests or in-season best times, and when that didn't happen every single race, it really brought down the intensity level," Accomando said. "Coach [Adam Hoyt] reminded the team after the MIT meet that at this point in the season, we shouldn't be focused on our [relay] teams. We need to stay in the moment and focus on the race."
Led by Matera, the divers, arguably the most dependable athletes on the team, added 31 points to the score in just two events. Sophomore Trevor Stack placed second in both of the dives, with freshman Alex Freedman finishing third in the 3-meter for a one-two-three sweep.
"Our divers are extremely valuable to our team even though they are often overlooked," Longhurst said. "They consistently get first and second place finishes, which helps our team tremendously."
Tufts will face MIT one more time before NESCAC Championships in the Feb. 6th and 7th MIT/Middlebury Invitational. The matchup against these two teams will be the Jumbos' last before they begin tapering and preparing for the conference finals.
"The next MIT meet is a huge meet for us because that will be the last meet of the season for just about half of our team," Longhurst said. "Those guys will start resting and tapering soon while the others will continue to train for NESCACs. It will be exciting to see what kind of swims the team will be able to put together at the invite being rested and after shaving."
But in the meantime, the Jumbos will travel to Lewiston, Maine to face Bates and Wheaton this Saturday.
