Men's and women's swimming and diving return to action with similar showings

The Tufts men’s and women’s swimming & diving teams returned to action this weekend with nearly identical results: decisive victories at Wheaton College and hard-fought home defeats to Boston College on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

After winter break, both teams jumped into the competitive pool for the first time since Dec. 8. The women’s team impressed before the break with a string of three victories out of four and a first-place showing at the MIT Winter Invitational in early December. The men’s team faced two losses in a row, but finished second at the MIT Invitational beforehand.

The teams travelled to Stuart, Fla. for their annual 12-day winter break training trip, which usually features a slew of comedic music videos and intense training.

"The training trip went really well this year," sophomore Sook-Hee Evans said. "We had much better weather this year [than last], so morale was definitely much higher ... it was a long two weeks, but we're all definitely much better prepared for the coming championship meets."

Coach Adam Hoyt always looks forward to the trip, highlighting its purpose: preparing both teams for the season run-in.

“The facility we train at is world-class, [and it’s] definitely great to get good training in,” Hoyt said. “The great weather that we had puts both teams in a great position to be at their best at the end of the season … when you’re on a 12-day trip with 82 teammates, it’s exhausting, but what comes out of it is really quite special.”

Men's Swimming and Diving

The men came up just short against Boston College on Sunday, falling 196–164 in the afternoon. However, they did manage to win eight events of 20 on the day, and four new records were set at Hamilton Pool. Sophomore Lomax Turner's 51.51-second effort was good enough for second place all time in the 100-yard butterfly, while junior Roger Gu posted the other two individual records. The freestyle specialist rolled off consecutive victories in the 50 and 100-yard freestyle races, rattling off times of 20.30 and 45.19 seconds, respectively. Finally, senior captain Kingsley Bowen, junior Matt Manfre, junior Costa Camerano and Gu teamed up to take down the previous 200-yard medley relay record, posting an impressive 1:33.72.

“Setting a school record is special, it’s history: it’s the fastest anyone has gone in our facility, which is old,” Hoyt said. “From a team standpoint, those athletes are clearly on track to put together pretty special seasons. It’s nice for the program to progress in a way that can be shown in the record books.”

More impressive perhaps was that the meet was right off of the back of Saturday’s victorious showing against Wheaton. The 200.5–77.5 winning scoreline also featured winning finishes from Turner in the 200-yard butterfly and Gu in the 200-yard freestyle, while a slew of other contributors rose to the occasion to ease the Jumbos to victory. Bowen captured three first-place finishes himself; he took first in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard butterfly, where his 51.76 topped the second place finisher, Tufts' first-year Nate Tingen, by just over a second. Bowen was also part of a 200-yard medley relay with Tingen, Gu and Manfre that came out on top. The same team, save for junior Costantino Camerano who filled in for Tingen, also won against Boston College on Sunday, proving to be masters against any supposed fatigue.

“Especially coming off of our [winter] training camp, their fatigue level was high,” Hoyt said. “Our goals were to really just compete well and not let the fatigue take away from the level of focus the team has. It was a long weekend of racing and it’s hard to stay focused and keep your energy level when you’re coming off of heavy training … [Ultimately] we swam against two really competitive teams, and we came out with some really nice performances that we’re pleased with.”

Women's Swimming and Diving

The women’s team also didn’t show much sluggishness. On seniors day at Hamilton Pool, they faced off against a tough Boston College team at the Hamilton Pool on Sunday afternoon, falling 237.5–138.5. The Jumbos started out brightly in the individual events; sophomore Sook-Hee Evans took the top spot in the 1000-yard freestyle before first-year Mary Hufziger claimed first in the 200-yard freestyle, where her 1:56.58 was also good for a Hamilton Pool record.

Senior captain Colleen Doolan marked a victory in the 200-yard butterfly, while Evans was victorious for a second time in the day in the 500-yard freestyle. Sophomore Lily Kurtz had the other Tufts first-place finish on the busy afternoon in the 200-yard breaststroke.

The women’s defeat at the hands of Boston College was only their second of the season (4–2 overall). The day before, the team swam and dove impressively to a 182–111 win at Wheaton. 

“Our women have put together a great season thus far,” Hoyt said. “The biggest meets are ahead of us ... Past performances, this weekend and prior, just have built their confidence. We have a strong team and I’m excited how they can build in on that both in training and in racing over the coming meets.”

There were a host of Jumbo first-place finishes, including those from the usual suspects such as Evans and Doolan. Others topping the charts included sophomore Amber Chong in the one-meter dive, sophomore Sasha Fond in the 50- yard freestyle, as well as fellow sophomores Amy Socha in the 100-yard butterfly and Abby Claus in the 200-yard butterfly. A slew of first-years came through with victorious showings in addition, including Jeannette Khowong in the 100-yard backstroke, Juliette Bichon in the 200-yard breastroke and Emma Donchi in the 200-yard backstroke. Junior Kate Brown in the 100-yard breastroke rounded out the individual winners. Tufts celebrated Doolan, Ailish Dougherty, Jessica Fan, Tessa Garces, Alex Good, Christie Hug, Madeline Lee, Caroline McCormick and Sydney Nasson as part of the team's seniors day.

It’s back to MIT for the men's and women's teams tomorrow, a pool at which both teams found success in December. The BU Invite follows, the last meet before the NESCAC championships. Last season, the men were conference champions, while the women's team finished fourth. As they prepare for championship season, they are certainly starting to round into form.

"We had a ton of really fast swims at our mid-season meet at MIT," Evans said. "So I think this year is going to be huge at NESCACs ... We definitely have our eyes on third or even second. [Also] the conference teams get announced this Saturday, so everyone is really excited."