Women's swimming loses in final second heartbreaker

A second. That's not much time. You read the last sentence in about a second. You can blink a couple times in a second. Now imagine hundredths of a second. Not much can be done in that very limited amount of time. But last Tuesday night the Tufts women's swim meet was decided by just that amount.

Unfortunately for the Jumbo women, those hundredths of a second were not kind, as they found themselves on the losing end of a 152-148 meet with MIT.

It was easily the closest meet the Jumbos had been involved in all year. As it ended, the team's record dropped to 5-1, while MIT improved to 8-2. But it could have just as easily gone the other way. In the 100-yard breastroke sophomore Katherine Ferguson finished third with a time of 1:12.91, scoring three points for the squad. Her teammate, freshman Meghan Wallach, finished just .01 seconds behind her and for her effort got two points for the team. Both swimmers were edged by the slimmest of margins by Engineer swimmer Moria Chambers. She finished in 1:21.90 and took 4 points for second place. The meet would have been deadlocked had the two Jumbo swimmers finished before Chambers.

Then in the 50 freestyle freshman Katie Mims finished in 26.35 seconds, a time that was good for fourth. She was just .02 seconds behind the nearest MIT swimmer. Had the two switched places, the score would have swung by two points in favor of Tufts.

Despite the disappointing outcome, the Tufts women's swimming team proved that they are one of the top teams in the NESCAC. Against a team referred to as "first class" by coach Nancy Bigelow, the Jumbos more than held their own. Everyone was proud with the effort the Jumbos gave.

"Sure it is frustrating to lose, especially by only 4 points, but everyone swam really well at the meet," senior tri-captain Shayna Burke said. "We knew that it was going to take everyone's effort to win the meet, and everyone gave 110 percent in order to try to do just that."

Among the excellent efforts on Tuesday was the three-victory performance by junior Mika Sumiyoshi. She took first in the 200 freestyle, the 200 backstroke, and the 200 IM. She swam her best times of the season in each event. Sumiyoshi was also the first leg of the team that took second place in the 200 Medley relay.

Sophomore Erica Weitz took two events, the 200 butterfly and the 500 freestyle. She also took second to Sumiyoshi in the 200 IM. Weitz was part of a trio of Jumbo swimmers who took the top three spots in the 500 freestyle. Freshman Kristin Hyland and sophomore Kate Sweeney finished 2-3 respectively.

Sweeney went through the "yeoman's test," Bigelow said. "She swam the 1000, 200, and then the 500. That is very tough but she did a great job."

Sweeney took third in the 1000, once again behind Hyland. Following her was freshman Katie Seyboth. In the 200 Sweeney again took third, wedged in between two MIT swimmers.

The Tufts divers gave the team a big boost in both the 3-meter and the 1-meter events. They outscored the Engineers 30-8. Junior Beth Wecksell took both events for the Jumbos, while senior Angela Russo received second in the 1-meter competition, and third in the 3 meter event.

Wallach also won an event, the 100 butterfly. She beat out three MIT swimmers for the nine points. Wallach was also a member of both second place relay teams in the 200 medley relay and the 200 freestyle relay.

There will be little time for the team to think about the loss, as it must now regroup for Bates this Saturday and then Brandeis the following day. However, the true competition will be against Bates. After they finished just behind Bates at last year's NESCAC Championships, the Jumbos would like to prove that they are the better team this year. The meet starts at 12:00 p.m. at Hamilton Pool.