Men swimmers prevail in back-to-back meets over the weekend

The regular season is nearly over and the talk around Hamilton Pool has turned to the NESCAC Championship meet. After finishing the non-conference schedule on Sunday at Brandeis, the squad was eager to end a successful season and get into postseason activity. It was only the previous day that the team had taken down Bates on Senior Day at Hamilton Pool to finish undefeated in NESCAC dual-meet competition (4-0).

"It was a good weekend for us," senior tri-captain Ryan Lahey said.

After a draining Saturday meet, the team had little time to rest before traveling to Brandeis to take on the Owls at Linsey Pool. Though the squad was still coming down from Saturday's five-hour meet, it still came through with a 163.5-119.5 victory. With the win, the team improved its overall dual-meet record to 8-1.

Saturday's meet, held in front of a packed crowd of proud parents and Bates faithful, seemed to be a celebration from the beginning. The Jumbos won 163-129, one of the closer meets for the men this season. But the mood at Hamilton Pool was upbeat all afternoon, giving the 11 seniors on the team a fond last impression of the place they called home for the past four years.

After honoring the seniors on the Tufts squad, the Jumbos went on to take down Bates Saturday afternoon. The Bobcats came into the meet holding a 2-3 NESCAC record, but their effort to spoil the Tufts perfect in-conference record was thwarted by a solid Jumbo effort.

In the first men's event, the 200-yard medley relay, the Tufts 'A' team set the tone for the rest of the competition _ blowing away the competition by nearly four seconds and setting a new Hamilton Pool record (1:38.65 unshaven).

Freshman Jonathon Godsey, whose 50-yard backstroke split (unshaven) for the victorious 200-yard medley relay team broke the previous pool record, also starred in the 100 backstroke, winning with a time of 54.91 seconds. Godsey's impressive day was not over though, as he also captured the 200 backstroke in a dominating 2:02.29.

"The fast times meant a lot to coach and to the guys, especially for the seniors since it was their last home meet," Godsey said. "Everyone's excited for the championships."

In the 400 individual medley, junior Tyler Duckworth never trailed and won handily (4:25.28), earning nine points.

"This weekend was fun," Duckworth said. "Everybody's really pumped up for the New Englands."

The real stars of the meet, though, were the seniors. The culmination of four years of hard work was finally recognized. Senior tri-captain Ed Edson capped off his Tufts career by winning both the 100 and 200 freestyle events. Tufts claimed the first three spots in both of those events, earning 32 combined points.

"It's really sad to see the seniors go," Duckworth added.

The real question now is whether this current senior class can lead the Jumbos to the top of the NESCAC standings. There have been murmurs all season that this team was the best Tufts has had in recent years. So far, the team has lived up to the hype, losing only one of its nine dual-meets _ a six-point loss to MIT. Last year, the team finished with a strikingly similar overall record of 9-1, but finished only fourth in the NESCAC Championships. Will this be the year that Tufts breaks into the NESCAC upper-echelon?

"We have a good shot to compete for the top spot," Duckworth said. "Our goal is definitely finishing in the top three."

Now, the team looks ahead to the Middlebury College Invitational, a notoriously fast meet between various local swimming programs this coming Saturday. The Invitational is considered a tune-up for the more important NESCAC Championships held at the end of the month (February 28-March 2), and will be the deciding factor in finalizing the final New England roster.