Eight members of the men's and women's swimming and diving teams competed in the Div. III National Swimming and Diving Championships at the University of Tennessee last week. It was a magnificent showing from all eight, which included a record−setting performance from senior tri−captain Megan Kono, the lone representative of the women's team, as well as a 20th−place finish out of 40 schools and seven All−American honors for the seven members of the men's team.
In impressive fashion, the men accumulated 43 points during the four−day meet. All seven had All−American performances in at least one event.
"I think we performed really well, considering the circumstances," senior David Meyer said. "We were disqualified in two relays [the 200−yard freestyle and the 400−yard medley] and we still were able to place top 20 in the country. I think that's pretty special."
Freshman Johann Schmidt, who won 14 events this season including the 1− and 3−meter dives at the NESCAC Championships, earned 13 of those 43 points, placing 12th in the 1−meter on Thursday and sixth in the 3−meter on Saturday. Schmidt's sixth−place finish earned him All−American honors, while the 12th−place performance was good for an All−American honorable mention, which goes to the ninth−through 16th−place finishers in each event.
Schmidt made similar comebacks at NESCACs, when he placed second in both diving prelims and still came away with two victories.
"When the pressure's on, [Schmidt] usually delivers," senior tri−captain Gordy Jenkins said. "Johann's very talented, and he's only a freshman. He's definitely going to be a huge contributor next year — not that he wasn't this year, but next year his role will be further magnified."
Tufts received All−American honorable mentions in several other swimming events as well. On Wednesday, the 200−yard medley relay team of juniors Owen Rood and E.J. Testa and seniors Zed Debbaut and Michael Del Moro finished ninth (1:31.87). Rood also finished 12th in the 50−yard freestyle (20.67).
Rood and Testa then teamed up on Saturday with Meyer and Jenkins to place 16th in the 400−yard freestyle relay (3:05.32). Earlier that day, they broke a team record in the preliminaries of the event with a 3:03.05 showing.
Del Moro, who is also a news editor for the Daily, was one of two Jumbos to break a Tufts record in an individual race, topping his own 100−yard backstroke mark with a 50.79 time, good for 19th place at NCAAs. Kono also set a school record in the 200−yard freestyle (1:54.00), surpassing a mark that was previously set in 1989 by Maureen Monahan (A '91). Kono also placed 18th in the 1,650−yard freestyle (17:26.29) and 22nd in the 500 free (5:02.42).
The foursome of Rood, Testa, Debbaut and Del Moro got hit with a disqualification in the 400−yard medley relay, and Rood, Testa, Meyer and Jenkins were disqualified for a poor exchange in the finals of the 200−yard freestyle relay, a decision that the Jumbos felt was dubious. With the automated system not working, the referees had to judge exchanges by eye.
"There was a lot of drama surrounding the [200 medley relay] disqualification, not on our team but with the officials," Jenkins said. "But there's nothing we can do about it; it's out of our hands."
This was the third appearance at NCAAs for Jenkins, Rood, Testa and Kono, as well as the second for Debbaut, Del Moro and Meyer.
The men's team was tied for 15th place after two days of competition and sat at 21st place heading into the final day. This marks the second straight top−20 finish for the men's swimming and diving team, which placed 18th in 2010 at the University of Minnesota.
Denison University won its first men's title, scoring 500.5 points to edge out Kenyon College by a single point and end Kenyon's 31−year−long streak of national titles. Emory University took the women's title.
