Women hoping to swim to fourth

While the NESCAC Championships will be the last time the 2002-2003 team will be together, it will be the first time the Jumbos will be able to measure themselves against the entire conference. A select few swimmers will qualify to move onto a more prestigious meet -- the NCAA Div. III Championships -- but that meet will have much more of an emphasis on individuals.

For most members of the women's swim team their season will culminate over this coming weekend when the squad will compete in the NESCAC Championships.

A successful meet would only seem fitting end to an impressive season. If not for one small out of conference blemish at the hands of MIT, the Jumbos would enter the Championships undefeated. As it is they are 7-1, with three wins against conference opponents.

A solid performance at the NESCAC Championships does not mean a team victory, however. It would be a small miracle for any team other than the Williams Ephs to emerge victorious at the end of the weekend.

Williams has won the only two NESCAC Championships thus far and does not seem willing or able to give up its third in as many tries. Behind them are Amherst and Middlebury Panthers who will be battling for second place.

The Jumbos got a taste of both the Ephs and Panthers at the Middlebury Invitational a week ago. However, neither the Jumbos nor their future NESCAC Championship opponents gave everything they had at the invitational. The meet was used more to rest the swimmers and have them swim their off events according to Coach Nancy Bigelow.

After the "big three" Tufts should be battling Bates for fourth. Last year the squad finished two places behind Bates, who took fourth. At the beginning of the year, senior captain Rebecca Ullman stated that "our biggest conference competition will be Bates." Ullman's prediction seems valid if the regular season meet between the two teams was any indicator.

The Jumbos edged the Bobcats by just two points, 151-149, two weeks ago. The meet came down to the final event. The match, which took place at Hamilton Pool, was on senior day and could be considered the biggest win of Tufts' season. The win was validation that the Jumbos and their record were legit. Before that meet, the team competed against many lesser caliber squads, such as NESCAC bottom-feeders Bowdoin and Wesleyan.

The victory against Bates was a far cry from the 192-106 drudging that the Jumbos suffered last year at the hands of the Bobcats. While one of the factors that lead to the lopsided victory was the absence of Junior Mika Sumiyoshi for Tufts, Bates was still clearly a better team last year. This year the gap between the teams was dramatically smaller because of marked improvement on the part of the Jumbos.

Not only did the skill and speed of the Jumbo swimmers increase, but their depth was also a contributing factor. A very strong freshman class and an experienced sophomore class are two key reasons for this improvement. The Jumbos could look to improve in the 1000-yard freestyle, where last year's third place finisher -- sophomore Kate Sweeney -- could be joined by freshmen Kristen Hyland and Katie Seyboth. Freshmen Meghan Wallach and Katie Mims should also give the Jumbos points in butterfly and freestyle events.

One glaring deficiency that this year's team will have is in the diving events. Junior Beth Wecksell -- who earned honorable mention All-American honors last year -- is studying abroad this semester. She scored points in both the one and three meter diving events last year at the NESCACs and will be sorely missed.

However, the Jumbos will also be able to depend on the experience of Sumiyoshi and sophomore Erica Weitz. Both have had great success in the meet, with each qualifying for the NCAA Championships in three different events last year. Sumiyoshi and Weitz competed and qualified for the NCAA meet in the both 200 and 400 IM races. With a newfound depth and competitive edge, the women's swim team will look to fend off Bates to take the fourth spot at this weekend's championship endeavor.