Freshman Mika Sumiyoshi competed in the NCAA Division III National Championships in Buffalo, New York this past weekend as the sole representative for the women's swimming and diving team. She swam in three separate races, highlighted by a ninth place national finish in the 400-yard individual medley (IM).
In the preliminary round on Thursday, Sumiyoshi finished 9th with a season's best time of 4:38.17, missing the finals by just one place. But in the following day's consolation round, the freshman blew the competition out of the water, touching the wall at 4:34.88. The time was nine seconds off of her best time during the regular season, and enough to win the round and place her ninth overall.
Sumiyoshi also competed in the 200 individual medley, where she came in 24th place in the preliminaries (2:12.19), and the 200 backstroke, in which she placed 22nd with a time of 2:11.56.
In her first year of collegiate swimming, Sumiyoshi put together a successful season. Throughout the year, she was counted on to swim in a wide variety of events and excelled in many of them, including her national-qualifying 400 IM race at the NESCAC Championships. Her time - 4:43.80 - was a second faster than the cutoff time.
"When I looked up and saw my time, I was so surprised," Sumiyoshi said. "I never thought I could do it."
Although only a freshman, Sumiyoshi has been swimming since the fifth grade, and is no stranger to competition. In high school, she was an all-area and all-state swimmer, and in her senior year garnered All-American consideration. Her high school team, Branford High School in Branford, Connecticut, won three state championships during her tenure. Sumiyoshi also set a school record for the 200-yard individual medley.
"I've been swimming for as long as I can remember," she said. "I loved the water and I always swam for fun. I love competing though, and I love being on teams. There is lots of support. My team was very close in high school. It was great."
Sumiyoshi was looking for a similar athletic atmosphere in college to the one she had in high school. The swimming program, she said, was a large factor in her choosing to matriculate at Tufts.
"I really like the coach [Nancy Bigelow]," Sumiyoshi said. "I expected the same thing as high school, a very close team and a lot of friends."
If it was team camaraderie that Sumiyoshi was searching for, then she found it at Tufts. Sumiyoshi had to continue training for Nationals in the two weeks following the regular season, and many of her teammates trained with her despite the fact that their seasons were over.
"Everyone has been so supportive," Sumiyoshi said. "Everyone has been writing me cards and sending me emails. It really helps."
Sumiyoshi set personal goals for her trip to Nationals; she wanted to keep her times where they were at the NESCAC Championship and to be in the top eight in the 400 individual medley. Although she narrowly missed the top eight performance, her time far exceeded what she had expected.
