For the men's swimming and diving team, success has been a recurring theme throughout the course of the season. This included having a 9-1 record for the regular season, a fourth-place finish in the New England Championships, in which three school records were shattered. Even after the championships the Jumbos success stretched even further, thanks to the strong swimming of sophomore sensation Tyler Duckworth. Duckworth represented Tufts in the NCAA Championships last weekend, where he competed in the 200- and 400-yard individual medley.
After a strong freshman season in which he broke Paul Kraaijvanger's school record of 2:09.12 in the 200 backstroke (2:08.74), Duckworth entered the 2001-2002 season with high expectations. Those expectations were met, as he avoided falling into the sophomore slump and continued performing well this season.
In addition to racking numerous points throughout the course of the season, he also provided leadership ability to the team. Swimming the individual medley as well as the backstroke, Duckworth proved to be quite versatile in the pool.
"I was pleased with the way he performed throughout the duration of the season," coach Don Megerle said. "I have been proud of his achievements, but I will expect even more from him in the future because I know he has the talent and willingness to improve. I will be looking forward to that."
In this year's NESCAC championships at Wesleyan, Duckworth performed well, as he broke his 200 backstroke record once again, with a time of 2:08.21. The weekend was one filled with other broken records, as freshmen Seth Baron and Rich Halpert also broke the respective records of the 200 butterfly (1:55.72) and the 200 individual medley (1:56.23). In that meet, Duckworth scored 75 points for the Jumbos, 19th overall in the conference.
With their performances, Duckworth and Baron were able to earn B-cuts to the NCAA Championships. An A-cut gives the swimmer an automatic berth to the national championships, while the B-cut is provisional. While NESCAC Championship ended that Sunday, Duckworth and Baron were left in the bubble, where both had to wait until Thursday for the national committee to announce the field of competitors in the NCAA Championships.
"I didn't think those times would be fast enough to get into the meet," Duckworth said. "When the results came out, I had missed [the A-cut to] nationals by .01 of a second. I was in 20th place. I was pretty disappointed"
Duckworth had also earned a B-cut the previous season but failed to gain a spot at nationals. This year's results proved to be different, however. While Baron did not gain a spot to compete, Duckworth did, as he qualified to swim in the 200 and 400 individual medleys. The announcement came as a surprise, as Duckworth was able to swim because another swimmer had dropped out of the competition because of an injury.
"It was difficult because I thought the season had ended so I had moved on with my life," Duckworth said. "Getting back in the water was challenging as I was the only male qualifier from Tufts."
Duckworth had to leave for nationals in a rush, as the meet was held at Miami of Ohio. Duckworth finished the 200 and the 400 IMs with the respective times of 1:58.47 (37th place) and 4:15.79 (27th place). Duckworth, showing initial disappointment, attributed his performance to lack of time to prepare for the meet, as well as being overwhelmed as Tufts' only competitor.
"I missed the cheering, support, and camaraderie that I am accustomed to at Tufts. I swam a pretty dismal race," Duckworth said. "I was tired, my taper had pretty much worn off and I sort of wanted to go home."
Despite failing to go beyond the preliminary rounds of the two meets, Duckworth was able to overcome his initial disappointment. He realized that being part of the NCAA Championships was an honor in itself.
"My coach was very inspirational as he gave me some good advice. He reminded me that I deserved to be here as much as any other athlete," Duckworth said. Duckworth is expected to be among the core leaders for Jumbos swimming next season, as the departure of senior Timmy Bouley will leave a leadership gap that needs to be filled. Though he will only be a junior, Duckworth is prepared to take a more visible role. And with two years left of swimming, Duckworth still has the potential to make a bigger mark on Tufts swimming.
