After three consecutive losses, the women's swim team bounced back with a 160-103 victory over Regis College on Wednesday night. For the swimmers not competing in the postseason, it was the final race of the year, and they went out on a high note, trouncing the depleted Beacon squad.
"It was a nice way to end the season for the swimmers who did not qualify for NESCACs," freshman Alyson Fleming said. "The atmosphere of meet was really fun. Regis had a very small team, and we knew that we were going to win, but we treated the meet seriously."
Unfortunately, against NESCAC opponent Williams on Saturday, the team did not fare quite as well. In their final home meet of the season, the Jumbos could not keep up with perennial postseason favorite, Williams, and lost 169-128.
Williams dominated most of the meet, winning 12 out of the 16 events. Despite the disappointing loss, however, coach Nancy Bigelow was satisfied with her team's performance.
"This was a relaxed meet for us in that we knew weren't going to win," Bigelow said. "Williams has some of the top swimmers in the league. We were just trying to get people to have some good solid swims. We did a good job."
Senior tri-captain Kristin Horton finished the day with two very strong swims. She secured the first win of the meet for Tufts in the 100-yard breaststroke, touching the wall in a time of 1:11.72, almost three seconds ahead of the silver medallist, Lyssa Castonguay of Williams. She also beat out the nearest competition in the 200 breaststroke by almost six seconds with a time of 2:33.62.
Horton finished the regular season with the NESCAC's sixth fastest time in the 200 breaststroke. She also holds the fourth fastest time in the 50 breaststroke.
It was also a successful meet for freshman Mika Sumiyoshi. She came in first place in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:15.44, ten seconds faster than Suzanne Armstrong of Williams. She followed that up with a second-place finish in the 200 backstroke with a career-best 2:12.19, losing by less than one second. Sumiyoshi went into the meet hoping to figure out which event she will swim at next weekend's NESCAC championships. The rookie is among the conference's top 25 in six different events, including 7th in the 200 backstroke and 4th in the individual medley relay.
"We are still trying to see what Mika is going to swim," Bigelow said. "We used this meet for what we could, strategy. We worked on how to swim a race."
The only other win of the meet went to freshman Kierstyn Thayer in the 200 individual medley. She out-touched Williams Charis Anderson with a time of 2:20.40, and also finished second in the 100 backstroke (1:05.80). Like Horton and Sumiyoshi, Thayer has a number of top 25 times in the latest NESCAC standings, including 7th in the 50 backstroke and 3rd in the 100 individual medley.
"My times weren't exactly as low as I wanted them to be," Thayer said. "It was a good meet though. Even though Williams is such a good team, everyone was still up and really into it."
Senior Katie Yaeger swam in the 100 and 200 backstrokes and had her fastest times of the season in both events, hitting the wall in 1:09.44 and 2:31.06, respectively. Sarah Booth, a senior diver, missed her best score of the season by less than a point with a score in the three-meter board (151.34).
"It was an emotional meet because it was the last home dual meet," Bigelow said. "It was nice to see people perform well. Katie Yaeger had her best meet yet. Sarah Booth also did a really nice job."
Not only was it the last home meet of the season, it was also an emotional goodbye for many of the seniors who were competing for the last time in Hamilton Pool. The team will be losing eight of its swimmers to graduation, including tri-captains Horton, Nancy Leahy, and Kira Kuhn. The team will also be losing divers Abbott and Booth.
The swimmers whose season goes on will taper their workouts prior to the Feb. 16-18 NESCAC Championships at Wesleyan.
"It's mind over matter," said Bigelow. "It's all rest and attitude."
