After consecutive losses to Div. I teams MIT and Boston University, coming back down to face Div. III opponents was just what the doctor ordered for the men's swimming and diving team. The Jumbos cruised to victories over the Wheaton Lyons and NESCAC foe Bates Bobcats in Lewiston, Maine Saturday, running their record to 6-3 in their last head-to-head meet of the season.
Tufts won all but three of the 16 events on the afternoon, sweeping the 50-yard freestyle and both the 50- and 200-yard breaststroke. The strong team effort helped the Jumbos beat host Bates 202.5-81.5 and the Lyons 231-64.
"Losing to BU and MIT in the same weekend was pretty rough, and I think everyone was pretty down on themselves," senior quad-captain James Longhurst said. "This was the second-to-last meet of the season for half the guys on the team who are tapering for the MIT invite next weekend, so this was a great opportunity for everyone to really see what they could do and bounce back from the losses we had last weekend."
The top performer for the Jumbos was junior diver Rob Matera, who once again scored victories in both the 1- and 3-meter dives after hitting the NCAA qualifying marks versus MIT last weekend. Sophomore Trevor Stack also contributed in the dive events, grabbing second- and third-place finishes in the 1- and 3-meter events, respectively.
In the swimming events, the Jumbos' scoring was more evenly distributed throughout the roster. The day opened with the 200-yard medley relay team of sophomore Matthew Glenn, junior Lawrence Chan, senior quad-captain Andrew Shields and freshman Owen Rood capturing first place. Rood was also part of the 200-yard freestyle relay squad, teaming with sophomores Zed Debbaut, David Meyer and Gordy Jenkins to win the event.
Chan, Glenn and Jenkins contributed individual victories for Tufts as well. Chan led a sweep in the 50-yard breaststroke, coming in ahead of Longhurst and junior Rowan Frankel. Glenn gave the Jumbos a victory in the 50-yard backstroke and Jenkins won the 100-yard freestyle as Tufts saw a number of outstanding performances across the board in the sprint events.
The Jumbos also saw some of their standout freshmen turn out stellar days in the pool. Along with Rood's contributions in the relays, fellow first-years Alex Strittmatter and Joe McLoughlin picked up first-place finishes. Strittmatter won the 200-yard butterfly and added a second-place finish, just behind Jenkins, in the 100-yard freestyle, while McLoughlin's win came in the 200-yard breaststroke, where he led an all-freshmen sweep for Tufts, along with Matt Richmond and Brandon Ching.
"Going in, we sort of knew that Bates and Wheaton weren't as strong as we were, so it gave us a chance to put people in different events they usually don't swim in," Longhurst said. "Even though we knew there was a great chance we would win, we still needed people to perform well, and everyone who swam in events they weren't used to stepped up."
Tufts also swept the 50-yard freestyle, won by sophomore Michael Del Moro; Debbaut came in second, and senior Matt Murphy finished in third.
Sophomore Andrew Altman won the 200-yard IM, and sophomore Joe Lessard placed first in the 200-yard freestyle, while junior Patrick Kinsella won the first individual event in the 1000-yard free and also picked up a second-place finish in the 50-yard butterfly.
With the dual-meet schedule finished for the season, the Jumbos have one more meet left before the NESCAC Championships. The team will travel to MIT for the third time this season, this time for the Middlebury Invitational, before taking a two-week break to prepare for the three-day-long conference meet at Wesleyan. The invitational next weekend offers those members of the team not competing at NESCACs a chance to finish the year on a strong note. For the rest of the team, it will be the final chance to see in-race action before the championship season.
"There are two slots open for the NESCAC Championships on our team, so a few guys will be racing to see how fast they can go so [coach Adam Hoyt] can see who will be the fastest for NESCACs," senior quad-captain Peter Accomando said. "The bottom 20 guys will be shaved, have their best suits on and will be swimming the best times of the season, no doubt."
"I think we are still training very hard right now," Longhurst said of the team members who will be racing at NESCACs. "The other guys are tapering, but we are still putting in the yards we have all year. Soon we will be working a little more on speed work, but I think right now we are in great shape. Everyone looks great, and we will see how we look at the MIT invite."
