Women's swimming NESCAC preview

For most members of the women's swimming and diving team, the long season that began before Thanksgiving will finally come to a close at this weekend's NESCAC Championships. Tufts is sending 23 swimmers and one diver (sophomore Kylie Reiman) to the event, which is taking place at Wesleyan University Feb. 13-15. Tufts hopes to ride a wave of momentum into the meet after winning two of its final three dual-meets of the season against Wheaton College and Wesleyan.

"We are very excited for this upcoming weekend," senior tri-captain Scarlett Hao said. "We have been forming team goals and process goals all season with this meet in mind. Every girl has put in the work since day one and even before that, so we hope this will translate into what we want to achieve."

Tufts also aims to improve upon its seventh-place finish at last year's NESCACs, which won't be easy given the high level of competition it expects to face.

"Every year, this meet gets faster and faster," senior tri-captain Kathryn Coniglio said. "For swimming especially, the NESCAC is one of the most competitive Div. III conferences in the country. Swimming is a unique sport in that you can’t really play 'defense.' It’s hard to have a team-place goal because we can’t control [how opponents perform]; we can only control how fast we swim as a team."

Be that as it may, coach Nancy Bigelow expects Tufts to battle Bowdoin for sixth place. Buoyed by their recent success, however, the Jumbos believe they can do even better by combining strong individual races with high scores in their relays.

"I’m really excited for our relays, because they’re always the most exciting part of the meet, and they are worth a ton of points," Coniglio said. "Personally, I would like to see a top-eight finish in my 100 and 200 freestyle."

According to senior tri-captain Amanda Wachenfeld, Tufts has been tapering (resting) for two weeks leading up to the event. Consequently, the 11 Jumbos that shaved and tapered for the Middlebury Invite at the end of January will not be competing in this event. The rest of the team has reduced its practice workload while simultaneously increasing the speed and pace of workouts -- the aquatic equivalent of running sprints instead of miles. Tufts has also been fine-tuning the little things, such as relay exchanges. The Jumbos hope this added rest and extra polish will translate to season-best times at Wesleyan.

"Everyone wants to do their season's best -- and hopefully lifetime best -- in all of their events, and if that happens, everyone will be thrilled," Bigelow said. "We are resting, getting sharper with our training and mentally preparing to swim and dive at our best level."

As their season winds down, the Jumbos have also been spending more leisure time together out of the pool. Coniglio cited team bonding events such as pasta dinners and group study sessions as ways in which the team has grown closer. These fun activities are intended to strengthen team chemistry, provide additional relaxation and above all, improve results in the pool.

"NESCAC preparation is done both in and out of the pool, really," Coniglio said. "Mental attitude is sometimes even more important than physical preparation. If you believe you’re going to swim fast, then you will."

Tufts also hopes to send several members to the NCAA Championships in Shenandoah, Texas over spring break. But with NCAAs over a month away, the Jumbos are focused on being in top form this weekend.

"We hope that everyone who swims will touch the wall, look up at the board and see a best time, which in turn means that more girls are getting into finals for scoring position," Hao said. "We have a strong group of girls, and I look forward to seeing what we can accomplish."