The men's swimming and diving season is little under two weeks old, with the Jumbos having won their first two meets handily. Tufts opened the year with a 188-110 victory over Clark and a 151-85 win against Bridgewater State.
The team now takes on tougher competition, with matches against Babson and NESCAC rival Bowdoin later this week. These early matches, all non-conference meets, were use primarily for training.
"We will actually be seeing some real opponents when we go against Babson and Bowdoin this week," he said.
In the victory over Clark, the Jumbos placed several swimmers atop the leaderboard. Junior Ed Edson, freshmen Alex Turner, and Rich Halpert finished in the top three spots in the 200-yard freestyle with times of 1:47.66, 1:48.38, and 1:53.13, respectively. Junior Jimmy Heagle took first place in the 100 backstroke with a time of 58.79.
Highlights from the win against Bridgewater State included a number of first-place finishes. Sophomore Aeric Solow, finishing with a time of 2:06.71, won the 200 backstroke. Sophomore Kaili Mauricio won both the 100 and 200-yard freestyle events, finishing in 50.97 and 1:52.43. Turner was once again victorious as he picked up the win in the 1000 freestyle with a time of 10:26.36, and was part of the 400 free relay squad of Michael Burr, Greg Schmidt, and Sam Burlingame that placed first with a time of 3:47.60.
Though the victories were decisive, the Jumbos still feel they have a lot to prove - especially since neither Clark nor Bridgewater is an exceptionally talented team. Tufts' first real test will come against Babson tomorrow, followed by Saturday's date with Bowdoin. With only one day in between both races, Tufts will need to maintain its focus in order to have a chance at remaining undefeated.
"I am very optimistic about this year's squad," coach Don Megerle said. "The team is looking very well, and it is nice to win from some great swimming. And even if we lose some, I would be proud of the kids giving their all."
Last year the team posted an 8-1 record and placed fifth in the NESCAC behind Williams, Hamilton, Middlebury and Amherst. In addition, Megerle's squad posted a winning record for the 26th season in a row.
During the NESCAC championship, then-freshman Duckworth produced a record-breaking performance in the 200 Breaststroke. Duckworth completed the race in a time of 2:08.74, good for fifth place, and broke Paul Kraaijvanger's school record of 2:09.12, which had stood since 1989.
Senior captain Tim Bouley and Duckworth will lead this year's squad. Behind them are a plethora of sophomores and juniors, who compromise the majority of the team.
Returning players from the junior class include top NESCAC freestylers Edson, Ryan Lahey, and Brendan Smyth. Sprint butterflyer Heagle and diver David Liebenstein will also be prime contributors. The sophomores include backstroker Burlingame, distance freestyler Jacob Gamerman, sprint freestylers Nick Ghoussaini, Jamie Meyers, breaststrokers Jeff Held and Schmidt, backstroker and distance freestyler Mauricio, and backstroker and freestyler Solow.
"This year's team has a great attitude," Megerle, who has been with the team for 30 years, said. "They are showing great initiative. No nuances are getting in our way."
Megerle and the team feels confident about the talent stemming from last year's freshman squad. "We already have such a deep junior and sophomore class," Bouley said. "Adding freshmen to the mix will only add to our talent pool".
After meeting Babson and Bowdoin, the Jumbos will take a small rest. Over winter break, they will attend their annual Fort Lauderdale, FL retreat for mid-season training before facing more league competition next semester.
