Jumbos set to make a splash at MIT Invitational

This upcoming weekend, the 2–0 women’s swimming and diving Jumbos will show off their strokes at the MIT Invitational.

Down the road in Cambridge, Tufts will take on MIT, Keene State, NYU, RPI, Wellesley and Wheaton College from Dec. 1–3. Led by coach Adam Hoyt and buoyed by 18 upperclass students, the Jumbos hope to leverage past experience in the meet to come out on top this season.

“Our team is really excited for this coming weekend,” senior tri-captain Alli Dorneo said. “It's one of the only meets we have outside of our championship season where we have the opportunity to race prelims and finals and wear tech suits. It's definitely going to be a long weekend, but with all of the pre-season and in-season training we have been putting in, I think our bodies are ready and are a lot stronger than we think they are. Overall, we're hoping to see some fast swims against some competitive teams.”

Prior to Thanksgiving, the Jumbos handily defeated Middlebury (155–134) and the Coast Guard Academy (180.5–109.5), clinching both matchups of their opening weekend Nov. 18–19.Despite some swimmers having to compete in multiple events due to a dual meet format, the team proved to be well conditioned for the challenge.

Tufts standouts included senior tri-captain Anna Kimura, winning the 200-yard IM on Sunday and the 200-yard breaststroke on Saturday, and junior Colleen Doolan, who won the 100-yard freestyle and the  200-yard butterfly a full six seconds ahead of her competition on Saturday.

At MIT this weekend, the Jumbos will face their stiffest competition yet. The coaches have given the swimmers more rest this week in preparation for the meet, fine-tuning mechanics and reducing the volume of laps to stay fresh.

“We are looking at this invitational as a way to gauge where we are at this point of the season. We use it to see where we stand in terms of our team and individual performance and what areas we need to further develop to be successful at the NESCAC and NCAA Championships at the end of the year,” assistant coach Joe Acquaviva said. “Based on how much energy the women have put into training both in the pool and weight room this preseason and season, it will be fun to see them get up and compete rested right now.”

The team’s 15 first-years are especially excited to see what is in store now that they have some real collegiate experience under their belts, and will be sure to play a pivotal role in Tufts’ performance this weekend.

According to Sook-Hee Evans, a first-year who racked up multiple wins during the Jumbos’ opening weekend, the first-years have gelled well with the rest of the team.

“The [first-years] have become a lot closer with upperclassmen since the beginning of the season as we have become more comfortable," she said. "At the very beginning of the year, the entire women's team took an overnight trip to Cape Cod to bond, and the men's team went to the Loj. We also had a few barbecues, and we often eat together in Dewick.”

Given the large number of first-years on the team relative to all other classes (nine seniors, nine juniors and eight sophomores), team bonding has played an especially large role. More relaxed and confident first-years means a better environment to learn and apply their skills, and the efforts of the coaches, captains and other upperclass swimmers have not been lost on this year’s corps of newcomers.

First-year Abby Claus wholeheartedly agrees.

“My experience on the team so far has been nothing but positive,” Claus said.  “Since the first day I arrived on campus, everyone has been so welcoming and helpful in adjusting to being a college student as well as an athlete. Compared to my high school team, we are all much closer and having that support system since day one has been one of the reasons I've enjoyed competing on this team so much.”

The Jumbos aim to hold their own against top Div. III competition this weekend — namely NYU and MIT — and have been buying in from top to bottom to make it happen.

“Everyone has been working their tails off. The biggest difference is that their attitudes in practice have improved tremendously,” Acquaviva said. “I think the leadership from the returning swimmers as well as our captains has been pivotal in setting us up for success. We did bring in a very large, talented class of women who have been able to hop right into our program’s training system and not miss a beat. The coolest thing as coaches has been to see the collaboration between the new and returning swimmers as both groups try to learn from and push each other to improve every day.”

Also of note is the fact that MIT is hosting a “Cradles to Crayons” drive for the meet this weekend, hoping to collect winter clothing and pajamas to benefit underprivileged children in the area.

After MIT, the Jumbos will travel to Wesleyan in Middletown, Conn. on Saturday, Dec. 9 for a meet with the Cardinals, WPI and Williams at 1 p.m.

Energized by their growing camaraderie and nearly two weeks of recovery, signs are pointing upward for the Jumbos this weekend and, moving forward, Acquaviva is eager to see how the next few weeks will unfold.

“We are excited to be able to race some really good swimming programs in MIT’s fast pool. On both the men and women’s sides, MIT and NYU are currently ranked highly in terms of team rankings," Acquaviva said. "It will be fun to be able to race some of the country’s top teams and see where we stack up at this point in the season. It is the culmination of training and hard work put in by the whole team for the first half of the season and being able to see the result of that labor should set us up well moving forward.”