Jumbos finish seventh at Nationals behind strong individual and relay performances

In a historic weekend for Tufts swimming and diving, the men’s team captured seventh place in the Div. III NCAA Championships in Indianapolis — its best finish since 1982. The team's superb performance was buoyed by a plethora of strong individual performances, All-American honors and program records.

While many athletes shined over the four-day event, the Jumbos' particularly strong performance in the relay events can’t be overstated.Tufts finished in the top eight in all five relays: sixth in the 200-yard medley relay (1:29.13), eighth in the 200 freestyle relay (1:21.75), eighth in the 400 medley relay (3:17.53), eighth in the 400 freestyle relay (3:00.47) and seventh in the 800 freestyle relay (6:40.36).

"It was great to see us come together," junior Kingsley Bowen said. "To be one of only a few teams that finished top eight in each relay, that’s really crazy. In many ways, we learned how to win this year, from the NESCACs to everything else we accomplished."

Bowen had a hand in two of the five relays but also performed well in his individual events, notching two third-place finishes in both the 100 and 200 backstroke. The Pepper Pike, Ohio native edged out the fourth-place finisher in the former event by six-hundredths of a second to finish with a time of 48.54 seconds.In the 200-yard backstroke, Bowen finished first in the preliminaries before grabbing third place in the championship round with a time of 1:46.36.His preliminary mark of 1:46.12 broke his own school record in the event.

"I had some ups and downs," Bowen said. "But I think it was a good weekend, and I’m happy with how things went."

Bowen, who won All-American honors for his relay and backstroke performances, was far from the only Jumbo to receive the national recognition.Across all events, 10 of the 11 participating Jumbos walked away with All-American accolades, which are awarded to the top eight finishers in each event.

Sophomore Roger Gu also nabbed All-American honors in an individual event.Gu, who swam in all five relays, placed fourth in the 50 freestyle (20.06 seconds) and second in the 100 freestyle (43.44 seconds), breaking a school record with his time in the latter event. The Ashland, Mass. native shared his reaction to earning All-American recognition in seven events.

"Shock," Gu said. "Last year, I didn’t finish top-eight [in Nationals] a single time, and this year, I was fortunate enough to finish top-eight in every race I swam."

Together, the performances of Tufts' swimmers in the individual and relay events stacked up to a resounding total of 198 points — good enough for seventh place at the competition. All 11 Jumbos provided valuable contributions, with All-American honors going to Bowen, Gu, sophomore Matthew Manfre, senior co-captain James McElduff, senior Zach Wallace, senior Lorenzo Lau, senior Michael Brienza, junior Noah Cagley, first-year Tyler Tatro and sophomore Costantino Camerano.

First-year John LaLime only competed in the 1650 freestyle, holding his own for a solid 13th-place finish with a time of 15:52.00 and earning an All-American honorable mention.Three other Jumbos also garnered honorable mention accolades: Bowen, who finished 10th in the 100 butterfly in 48.88 seconds; McElduff, for his 11th-place finish in the 400-yard individual medley (3:57.68); and Wallace, who placed 16th in the 400 IM with a time of 3:59.78.

The week in Indianapolis was a culmination of a season’s worth of efforts — a season that saw the Jumbos win their first-ever NESCAC championship. Along with the conference meet triumph, Tufts finished the highest of any NESCAC team at Nationals. According to Gu, the team's positive outlook and dedication were the keys to its successful season.

"I think the attitude was different [from last year]," Gu said. "From the beginning of the year, everyone started to see what was possible. If last year, someone had told me that we were gonna win the NESCAC championship, I’d be skeptical. But after training with the team this year and seeing how hard everyone worked, we definitely thought it was possible, and then we carried that [victory] to Nationals."

Looking forward, Gu and the Jumbos have both a lot to be happy about and a lot to work toward. Even though some crucial members of Tufts’ relay teams are graduating this year, there is a ton of potential among the younger swimmers on the roster. To turn a single successful year into a trend, they’ll have to step up in a big way.

"The biggest roadblock to improving is yourself," Gu said. "I didn’t think that this would’ve been possible, but after seeing the potential and what could be done, there’s no room for self-doubt or holding yourself back."

With many of their strong performers from the NCAA Championships returning next season, the Jumbos will look to continue the pattern of success they established during the historic 2017-18 season.