The women's swimming and diving team suffered its second loss of the season on Tuesday night to MIT. In a competition at Hamilton Pool, the Jumbos lost 157.5-137.5 to the Engineers, who are riding a seven-game winning streak.
"It was a great meet," freshman Erica Weitz said. "There were some great times on the board. We knew MIT was a strong team with a good attitude. We swam hard and with heart."
The team expected that the second half of its season was going to be more difficult than the first. After suffering its first loss of the season to Bates this past Saturday, the team knew the competition was going to be even more difficult against MIT. Coming to the pool Tuesday night, the Engineers boasted a 7-1 record on the season, defeating difficult opponents, including Brandeis. Historically, Tufts has encountered difficulty against MIT, losing in 1999 and 2000.
"We swam well," coach Nancy Bigelow said. "We are definitely fresher and sharper."
Compared to the Bates meet, the Jumbos were putting much more pressure on MIT, losing by a deficit of 20 points as opposed to losing to Bates by 86 points. It was also an opportunity for individuals to shine, such as Weitz, who pulled in two of the six first place finishes for the team. She swam to first place in the 200 butterfly and 200 IM with times of 2:16.45 and 2:15.72, respectively.
"I was getting a really good positive vibe from the team," Weitz said. "That always helps to have strong races. I was happy with my performance."
Weitz's time in the 200 IM was her personal best for the season, previously 2:16.37 on Dec. 1 against Bowdoin, a time that was the 12th fastest time in the NESCAC division. She also swam her fastest time in the 500 freestyle (5:19.03) a time good enough for second place at the MIT meet. She crushed her previous best of 5:23.83 against Wellesley on Nov. 28. That time was fast enough for ninth in the NESCAC as of Jan. 20, 2002.
"We have had a good base from Barbados [winter training trip], and we have been training hard since we have gotten back," Weitz said. "All lot of the placement depends on the other team; it is a meet by meet basis."
Weitz has stepped up for the team this season, not only in her speed but also in her versatility. She has competed in the freestyle and all of the strokes thus far with exception of the breaststroke and has competed particularly well in the Individual Medley and the 500 freestyle. The team has needed a strong IM swimmer in the wake of the loss of sophomore Mika Sumiyoshi to a knee injury. Sumiyoshi currently holds the best time in the NESCAC in the 400 IM, (4:42.58) against Trinity on Jan. 20. Weitz has the sixth best time in the 400 IM (4:48.07) which occurred at the same meet.
"A lot of swimmers concentrate on particular strokes, they are breaststrokers or backstrokers," Weitz said. "I happened to be trained equally in the strokes and freestyle. I really like the IM because it is a little bit of everything."
The divers were also a force in keeping the Jumbos close to MIT. Sophomore Beth Wecksell scored first place points in both sets of one meter diving, 162.60 and 224.60. Junior Angela Russo brought in second place points in the second set of one meter diving with a score of 179.50. Currently, Wecksell has the sixth highest score for one meter diving in the NESCAC (237.59) from the Wesleyan meet on Jan. 19. Russo has the 11th best score 220.50, which occurred at the Trinity meet.
However, the season will only be getting more difficult for the Jumbos, who are currently 5-2. This Saturday they will face Brandeis at home at 3 p.m. The following Saturday, the team will travel to NESCAC powerhouse Williams for its final regular season meet. The team will then have a few weeks off to start its taper for the NESCAC championships Feb. 22. This is the meet that all the training in a season is geared for and a place where the most personal best times will be seen.
"We will start our taper after Williams," Weitz said. "We get to relax a little and do a lot of stuff as a team to psych ourselves up. The goals are to have good times and strong swims. I want to be proud of my performance."
