The women’s swim NESCAC Championship was held in Waterville, Maine at Colby College from Thursday to Monday. The Jumbos finished second out of the 11 NESCAC opponents.
The Jumbos kicked off their Thursday with some outstanding performances that landed several of them on the podium. The entire weekend was full of incredible displays in the water, with several swimmers beating personal bests and pool records.
In the 4x200 freestyle relay, a squad of four, consisting of juniors Madeleine Dunn and Quinci Wheeler, sophomore Selin Tuncay and first-year Noa Chambers, finished second overall in the event. The first day finished with Tufts scoring 76 points, just behind Williams with 90 points.
On Friday, the Jumbos started off hot, taking the first three events of the night.
In the 4x50 freestyle relay, the foursome consisting of juniors Isa Chambers and Katharine Skelly, senior Emma Claus and graduate student Jillian Cudney teamed up to take first place in the event.
Wheeler also topped her Thursday night performance with a win in the 50 breaststroke, making it her second conference title in the event. She also shattered Colby College’s pool record with a time of 28.62 seconds.
Junior Jade Foltenyi and sophomore Elena Harrison both put on a show throughout the weekend, recording Tufts’ first-ever NESCAC Championship wins in their respective events. Friday saw Foltenyi win the 50 butterfly with a time of 24.93 seconds, followed closely behind by two fellow Jumbos. Harrison broke Tufts’ school record in the 50 backstroke earlier that morning in 25.78 seconds and won the event later that night with a time of 26.18 seconds.
Along with some key runner-up placements in multiple events, the Jumbos narrowly trailed the Ephs going into Saturday, in which there was no shortage of surprises.
A longstanding Ephs-dominated event saw them finally dethroned after a nine-year streak of winning the 4x50 medley relay, broken by none other than the Jumbos. The squad that did it was made up of Harrison, Wheeler, Foltenyi and Cudney, taking the event for the first time in nearly a decade and only 0.01 seconds off of a Tufts record.
In the 1,000 freestyle final, Dunn shattered her own school record by two seconds, with a 9:58.87 finish.
Nepalese Olympian and Tufts senior Gaurika Singh won the 100 backstroke with a time of 55.85 seconds.
With some strong finishes that put some crucial points on the scoreboard for the Jumbos, they edged in front of the Ephs. However, it was just for a moment as the Ephs regained their lead by a hair going into Sunday’s events.
When asked about preparing for this kind of moment, Harrison wrote in an email to the Daily that “showing up everyday to put in the work,” all the way from their preseason through to the NESCAC Championship is what brought them to Sunday — the final day of the championship.
On the last day of the meet, Cudney decided she was going to leave the water in her final NESCAC Championships with a bang. She won the 100 freestyle and, along with Chambers, Wheeler and sophomore Sydney Stasz, took the 4x100 freestyle relay as well.
In an email to the Daily, Harrison wrote “A highlight of the meet for me was watching the 4x100 freestyle relay on Sunday night,” describing the sheer excitement of watching her teammates beat powerhouse Williams’ swimmers in the event. She recalled that most swimmers had finished up their events, so everyone was there to fuel the fire for the Jumbos.
Also in her final NESCAC Championship meet, senior Lara Wujciak had a strong fourth-place finish in the 200 butterfly final.
Tufts ended the meet in second place after an incredible battle, finishing with 1,801.5 points, just 30.5 points behind Williams.
“Our team did a really good job of swimming for each other,” Harrison wrote, reflecting on the weekend. She added that the team’s efforts were in line with their shared goals and went far beyond individual accolades.
“It was one of the best meets I have ever gone to,” Harrison stated. Tufts put up a truly amazing display of competitiveness, and each day was filled with adrenaline-packed, nail-biting races in the water.
The next step for those who qualified will be the NCAA Division III Championships, which will be held from March 19–22 in Greensboro, N.C.
With plenty of swimmers showing up when it counts the most, the road ahead is promising for the team as they prepare for the big stage. “I’m really excited to see what the team can do in [Greensboro],” Harrison wrote. After an unbelievable NESCAC Championship performance, there is plenty to be excited about for the Jumbos swim squad.
