Tufts closed out its regular season tabling 11 top five finishes at the Middlebury Invitational last week. The two-day event is technically not scored, but it is significant as it is the last meet before the championship season. For those who will travel to Bowdoin for the NESCAC Championships, Middlebury acted as a tune-up event where swimmers could rest up and work on any final adjustments that needed to be made before the most important events of the season. For everyone else (NESCAC rules dictate that only 24 swimmers from each team may participate in the championships), Middlebury offered an opportunity to leave it all in the pool one more time before the regular season ended.
The Jumbos showcased their depth once again amidst strong competition. Five of the 11 top five finishes came in relay events. Tufts earned fourth place in both the 800 and 400-yard freestyle relays, with senior captain Sophia Lin, sophomore Colleen Doolan and first-years Hannah Truslow and Brooke Bernstein clocking in at a time of 3:45.34 in the 400, nearly five seconds behind third-place Middlebury, and over 11 seconds slower than first-place Willams. Meanwhile, the “B” squad of first-year Mackenzie Parmenter, sophomore Maddie Maider, juniors Caitlyn Leo and Zoe Gregorace finished under two seconds shy of their teammates for fifth place.
First-years Grace Goetcheus and Claudia Gibson and juniors Lindsay Partin and Jess Lee added another fourth place finish in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:53.92, edging out the Middlebury "C" team by four hundredths of a second.
In the 800-yard freestyle relay, senior captain Amanda Gottschalk and sophomores Doolan, Maider and Alexandra Good gave the Jumbo “A” relay team a fourth place finish with a time of 8:13.35,while the "B" team consisting of Parmenter, Leo, Gregorace and sophomore Christiana Hug finished right behind in fifth in the same event.
On the individual side, first-year Rica Generoso earned a fourth place finish in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:03.38. Tufts also claimed fourth in the 50-yard freestyle as sophomore Jessica Fan sprinted to a time of 25.74, besting 16 other swimmers in the event.
Other notable swims across the two days included Lin’s seventh place finish out of 41 in the 100-yard freestyle and Maider’s swim in the 200-yard freestyle in which she finished seventh, besting 36 other swimmers in the event.
Since the Invitational, coach Adam Hoyt's focus has been directed at preparing his swimmers both mentally and physically for the NESCAC Championships. In the week leading up to the championships, Hoyt’s challenge will be having enough training so that swimmers are sharp and focused but not so much that they cannot retain optimal fitness.
“It's important that we’re focused but also that we’re rested. The training we’ve been doing in the pool this week has been just getting in there for a little while and working on specific technical things and getting out of there so our athletes have time to rest outside of the pool,” Hoyt said. “[The NESCAC Championships] has been our focal point throughout the entire year and especially during the past two weeks. We’ve been working on reinforcing the good habits we’ve developed and the skills we’ve learned throughout the entire season to get our team in the best possible state for the last week of the season.”
For Hoyt, improving on last year’s seventh place finish at NESCACs is the goal for the team, but he hopes that his swimmers will also be able to improve on individual times.
“We hope to be dropping time in all of our individual events and relays from our in-season time, so that would point to a good performance," Hoyt said. "There are some school records that I think have a chance of dropping, so hopefully we can come close to those or improve on those. The conference is likely to be a bit stronger this year, so from a finish standpoint, I’m hoping we can at least hold or improve on our seventh place finish from last year.”
For Gottschalk, her inspiration for NESCACs will be fueled by her teammates, especially those whose season has already concluded.
“We had 12 women who concluded their seasons at this meet. All of these ladies swam exceptionally, and it definitely inspired the women who are competing in the NESCAC Championships next week,” Gottschalk told the Daily in an email. “Being part of the women's swimming and diving team is a huge honor and unique experience; our camaraderie and supportive culture are what set us apart and make the team so special," she said.
The Jumbos will travel to Bowdoin for their last team event of the season when they compete in the NESCAC Championships on Friday.
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