MIT swimmers spoil men's swimming chance at undefeated season

Although the men's swimming team knew what it was up against, the team was unable to continue its winning ways on Tuesday, suffering its first loss of the season in a closely contested meet at MIT. Tufts earned 118 points, six short of MIT's total of 124,

While the MIT squad is not usually a powerhouse, Tufts coach Don Megerle described this year's squad as one of the best teams MIT has ever formed.

"They swam really well," senior tri-captain Ryan Lahey said. Tuesday's meet came down to the last event, the 400-yard freestyle relay, usually a strong event for the Tufts men. The Engineers were just too quick though, winning the relay by more than three seconds.

"MIT got real strong this year," senior tri-captain Peter Berkowitz said. "It was a good meet though."

The Tufts divers kept the squad in the meet until the end, claiming 16 points in the one-meter competition, won by senior Connell Cloyd, and earning another 14 in the thee-meter event, won by sophomore Jonathan Perry.

The Jumbos best swimming performance of the evening came in the 200-yard butterfly, in which Tufts grabbed three of the first four spots. Sophomore Seth Baron won with a time of 1:59.07.

Tufts usually makes quick work of the MIT swimmers, but this year was a different story.

"It was disappointing but the loss doesn't change our potential," Megerle said. "They just swam better than us."

After the loss, the team's record fell to 5-1 (2-0 NESCAC), still an impressive mark with now more than half of the regular season completed.

On Saturday, the team traveled to Middletown, CT to take on NESCAC foe Wesleyan. That meet proceeded like most of the team's others this season, with ease. Tufts won by a score of 180-81, dominating almost all of the events.

The Jumbos' dominance could be seen early on, with Tufts taking the first eight events, including all three of the freestyle races and one of the relays.

Baron (10:27.73) and junior Kaili Mauricio (10:35.64) placed one and two in the 1,000-yard freestyle. Freshman Jason Kapit, a Maryland native, got in on the action as well, winning the 200-yard freestyle in a very hotly-contested event.

Other Jumbo swimmers also excelled at Wesleyan. The team claimed a clean sweep of the 100-yard backstroke, grabbing the first three spots in the final results. Freshman Jonathon Godsey won with a time of 55.03 seconds, with juniors Jamie Meyers (58.17) and Sam Burlingame (58.63) not too far behind.

Tyler Duckworth dominated both the individual events he participated in. The American Studies major won the 200-yard butterfly by nearly ten seconds (1:59.58) and the 200-yard breaststroke by more than ten seconds (2:11.77).

The Wesleyan meet was the team's first after returning from a two-week training trip to Florida.

"It's nice to see all the hard work we had done down in Florida pay off," Berkowitz said.

The team will travel to Hartford, CT on Saturday to take on NESCAC opponent Trinity College.

With only four duel-meets remaining, three of which are against NESCAC teams, the team now focuses on finishing strong and building the final roster for the NESCAC Championships, to be held at Williams from February 28 to March 2.

"Our main goal is putting together our New England team for the Championships," Lahey said.

Even after suffering its first loss of the season on Tuesday, the team is optimistic and in prime position to compete for the NESCAC crown.