After dominating Bates 161-111 on Saturday in Hamilton Pool, the men's swimming team extended its winning streak to eight meets. What makes the current 8-0 season so eye-opening is that Tufts has been powered primarily by the emerging freshmen swimmers, who have done more than fill the gaps left by last year's graduated seniors.
The Bobcats entered the meet with a 5-2 record and impressive victories over Wesleyan and Bowdoin. But Bates was no match for the undefeated Jumbos.
The men began the meet with a one-two finish in the 200-yard individual medley relay. The team of freshmen Aeric Solow and Tyler Duckworth, junior Scott Cohen, and sophomore Ryan Lahey beat out their fellow Jumbos, freshmen Sam Burlingame and Greg Schmidt, sophomore Jimmy Heagle, and senior tri-captain Nic Anderson for first place.
The individual races unfolded in much the same way they have all season, with dominating performances from the freshmen, who accounted for 52 of the team's 139 individual points, and figured prominently in both relays.
"Our freshmen are really swimming well," sophomore Jimmy Heagle said. He added that the team will send many of its freshmen to New Englands at the end of the season.
Once again, Duckworth led the freshmen charge. In his first race, the 400 IM, he entered the final 50 barely leading Bates freshmen David Bear, but Bear edged Duckworth out at the wall by .22 seconds. It was Duckworth, however, who finished ahead of Bear in the 100 IM (57.33). That was one of two first place finishes on the day for Duckworth.
"That was such nice revenge," Duckworth said on beating Bear. He also won the 100 breaststroke (1:01.75).
Duckworth has contributed significantly this season with at least one individual victory in each meet and strong performances in the medley relays. Though only a freshman, he is acutely aware of the expectations placed on him.
"I do feel a little pressure because I've performed well in the past," Duckworth admitted. "At the end of the day, I just want to say that I have contributed."
Freshmen Kaili Mauricio and Solow, who also typically contribute points, had a somewhat disappointing meet. Mauricio produced a second place finish behind teammate Ed Edson in the 200 IM. Edson, a sophomore, led a one-two-three Jumbo finish with a time of 1:50.93. Mauricio followed in 1:52.76 and sophomore Shane Mason finished in 1:56.33. In the 500 free Mauricio finished third behind Bates' swimmers. Solow placed fifth in the 50 free with a time of 23.80, little more than one second out of first.
In contrast to Mauricio and Solow, some typically quiet freshmen had a big meet. Burlingame led a Jumbo sweep in the 50 backstroke (26.80). Teammate Ryan Lahey finished second (27.01), out touching Heagle by .03 seconds. Burlingame's 57.35 in the 100 backstroke led another Jumbo sweep, in front of Mason (58.98) and tri-captain Chris Panagos (59.05). Schmidt (29.54) led a one-two Tufts finish in the 50 breaststroke as he finished ahead of freshman Jeffrey Held (29.67).
In addition to the freshmen, Anderson had another impressive meet finishing first in the 100 butterfly in 54.48 and first in the 100 free. Anderson anchored the winning 200 free relay team with a 22.41 split. Cohen, sophomore Brendan Smyth, and Meyers joined Anderson to finish 1:30.87.
Diver Pat Girvin had a lackluster meet as he did not finish first in either the one or three meter events. Girvin finished second to Bates diver Andrew Hastings in the 1-mtr event as Hastings broke his own team record with a score of 297.55. Girvin finished with a score of 249.95 and sophomore David Liebenstein came in third with a score of 208.30. In the 3-mtr event, Liebenstein edged out Girvin for second, 139.45 to 138.80. Hastings easily finished first with a score of 197.25.
On Thursday, Tufts topped MIT in Cambridge by a score of 125-111 in preparation for its meet against the Bobcats.
This Saturday, Tufts will face Williams at Hamilton pool for its last meet of the season. The Ephmen are 6-0 and have dominated the NESCAC with 14 consecutive New England titles. But while the Jumbos are not expected to prevail, they are not giving in just yet.
"We will be competitive," Heagle said.
Duckworth was more confident: "I don't care if they were New England champions last year. That was last year."
