After two legs of the first event against Trinity College last Saturday, the women's swimming team found itself in an unusual position _ behind. Halfway through the race the Jumbos trailed by over a second to the Bantams.
Throughout the season, the team has been consistent in jumping on its opponents from the start, taking a commanding lead in the beginning and never letting the opposing team have a chance to make a comeback. This trend looked to be in jeopardy until sophomore Erica Weitz took over on the third leg of the race and regained the lead. Freshman Katie Mims then finished the race with a blistering 56.05 final lap to keep the lead and take 11 points.
From there the Jumbos quickly added to their lead. They took first in the ensuing two events, which allowed the team to pull some of its swimmers in preparation for the MIT meet yesterday.
"[The team's] biggest obstacle right now is fatigue," senior tri-captain Becky Ullman said. "In a couple weeks we will begin to taper and rest but it's going to take a big effort to pull through the end of our regular season and do well."
Accordingly, junior Mika Sumiyoshi officially swam in just one race. She took first in the 50 yard butterfly, one second ahead of Mims. Mims later took first in the 50 freestyle. Sumiyoshi will need to perform well in order for the Jumbos to have success in the coming month. Thus, she is resting when possible.
In the second event sophomore Kate Sweeney fended off a late surge in the final lap by Trinity's Holly Thompson to secure 9 points in the 500 freestyle. Sophomore Katherine Ferguson then took first in the 200 freestyle and junior Amanda Bloom overtook a Trinity swimmer in the final lap to allow the Jumbos to finish 1-2 in the event.
Ferguson added another first place finish later on in the meet, taking the 100 breaststroke ahead of two Bantam swimmers.
The final score of the match was 163-135, but it was not as close as the tally indicates. The Jumbos improved their record to 5-0, while the Bantams' record dropped to 4-3.
"[Much of the recent success is credited to] conditioning we had in the Bahamas. Everyone came back in great shape. It also really helped to build the unity of the team," coach Nancy Bigelow said.
Freshman Meghan Wallach continued to make a strong impact this year. She took first in two events, the 100 Individual Medley and the 100 butterfly. She was also a part of the winning 400 medley team. Other first place finishes for the Jumbos included Weitz, who cruised to an easy victory in the 400 IM, besting her nearest opponent by over 12 seconds.
Tufts sophomore Suzi Ascoli swam to victory in the 100 freestyle. Trinity's Thompson was again the tough-luck loser, as Ascoli finished just 0.7 seconds before her. Ascoli also took third in the 100 butterfly.
After the meet at MIT yesterday, the Jumbos return to Hamilton Pool to finish out the remaining meets of their season until they travel to Bowdoin to compete in the NESCAC Championships on the weekend of Feb 21-23.
MIT was the first true test of the Jumbo's talent, but it will not be the last. The other two opponents on their schedule, Williams and Bates, are two of the better teams in the NESCAC. Bates will be an especially important matchup because it is the team that stands between Tufts and a better finish this year at the NESCAC Championships.
"We are looking towards Bates as one of our toughest competitions of the year," Ullman said. "It should be a great meet at which the score could go either way."
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