Competing in its final event before NESCACs, Tufts men's swim and dive raced against a host of tough schools that included rivals Williams and Middlebury at the Middlebury Invitational.Though it was a non-scoring meet, several swimmers dropped significant time in a bright spot for the Jumbos as they prepare for the conference championships, now less than three weeks away.
Tufts’ top swimmers took it easy at Middlebury, swimming mostly their “off events” at the meet.This left the field open for those Jumbos who shaved and tapered for Midd Invite. Those Jumbos are either not competing at NESCACs, making the Midd Invite their final meet of the season, or they are still vying for one of the two remaining spots on the NESCAC team.
“Our goal as a team was to do what we always do — swim fast, be loud and look good while doing it,” sophomore Michael DeCortin said. “There is no doubt in my mind that we achieved those goals. I have never been more impressed with my team than I was this weekend. We owned the pool every time we dove off the blocks, and no one was louder. Everyone on the team showed up to race, especially the members of the team who will not be competing at the NESCAC championships in three weeks.”
Leading the Jumbos in Vermont was first-year Chris Flynn, who won both the 100 and 200 butterfly with his fastest times of the season by several seconds in both events. Sophomore Gus Simms supported Flynn in the 200 fly by taking third.
First-year Morgan Ciliv secured the third of three Tufts wins this weekend, taking first in the 100 breaststroke. Ciliv has been prolific this year for the Jumbos, and will be one of the young swimmers to watch at NESCACs.
DeCortin was just 0.23 seconds behind Ciliv in the 100 breast to claim a 1-2 Tufts finish. DeCortin also placed third in the 200 breaststroke as the top Tufts finisher in that event.
“Both breaststroke races for me this weekend were lifetime bests,” said DeCortin. “I was very happy with my performances throughout the meet. Months of training come down to seconds in water, so swimming personal bests was an amazing and rewarding feeling.”
First-year Jacob Siegelbaum also had a strong showing at Middlebury as he contributed a quartet of fourth-place finishes. The first-year finished fourth in the 200 individual medley, the 200 backstroke and the 100 back — dropping significant time off of each of his previous bests in those events — and swam on the fourth-place 200 medley relay team, along with senior Sean Gunn and fellow first-years Flynn and Panos Skoufalos.
“Of the seven events I swam this weekend, all were personal bests,” said Siegelbaum. “After starting the season off with some health issues, how I was going to perform this weekend was unclear, to say the least. However, all season coach [Adam Hoyt] and the upperclassmen have been urging me and my teammates to ‘trust in our training,’ and that’s what I did this weekend.”
Tufts had success with its young relay teams in general. The 800 freestyle relay team of Flynn, Simms and first-years Lorenzo Lau and Scott Simpson placed third, as did the 400 freestyle relay team of junior tri-captain Cam Simko, first-year James McElduff, Lau and Skoufalos.
Junior tri-captain Michael Winget, who only swam in three events, added a second-place finish in the 200 backstroke.Winget, who was one of four Jumbos to represent Tufts at the NCAA championships last year, will swim backstroke and be a team leader at NESCACs.
Sophomore Matt Rohrer led the Tufts divers once again, placing second in the one- and three-meter events, behind only Williams’ Rohan Bhatt in both. Rohrer, the defending three-meter NESCAC champion, will look to get revenge and defend his title against Bhatt and a host of other strong divers at NESCACs.
Midd Invites also marked the last collegiate meet of the careers of seniors Sean Gunn and Josh Norville. Norville swam on the fourth-place 200 freestyle relay team, along with Gunn, and the fourth-place 400 medley relay team. Gunn also swam on the fourth-place 200 medley relay. The third Jumbo senior, tri-captain Mike Napolitano, will be competing at NESCACs.
The 24-man squad that will represent Tufts at the conference championships will now primarily focus on fine-tuning its stroke and racing in its respective top events, and will soon begin its taper.
This weekend’s competition gave the Jumbos the chance to not only swim at the same venue where they will compete at NESCACs, but to get an early look at some of the swimmers they will be facing.
According to Siegelbaum, racing against Williams, the 13-time NESCAC champions who have taken first at NESCACs since 2002, pushed the team to swim faster.
“Regardless of your individual level of competitiveness, there's such an innate drive to beat that guy next to you,” Siegelbaum said. “There was undoubtedly a push to swim faster by the accomplished swimmers who accompanied us at the meet this weekend — even if they're on your own team.”
“It's always good to have fast competition, but I think the main reason we were able to swim so fast was being surrounded by teammates,” DeCortin added. “Our teammates always give us the best races, and nothing motivates you more than seeing a huge sea of brown and blue cheering for you at the end of your lane.”
The Jumbos return to Middlebury, Vermont for the NESCAC championships Feb. 20-22.
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