Sumiyoshi caps off amazing season with All-American performance

For junior swimmer Mika Sumiyoshi, things just kept getting better and better. Sumiyoshi anchored a talented Tufts team of swimmers en route to a 7-1 finish on the season and a sixth place finish in the ever-so-competitive NESCAC post season meet. And as impressive as the team result may have been, Sumiyoshi's individual accomplishments, including two top ten finishes at nationals, were even better.

"I tried to not put too much pressure on myself, and I just wanted to enjoy swimming, which I did this year," Sumiyoshi said. "I wanted to be able to look back and be happy that I worked hard at every single practice, and know that I couldn't have done much more. I was just glad that I didn't have any injuries or serious illnesses like I had last year."

Sumiyoshi's individual performance at NESCACs was superb, as she qualified for the NCAA Div. III Swimming and Diving Championships in three different events--the 200 Individual Medley, the 400 IM, and the 200 Backstroke. Sumiyoshi won the 200 IM at NESCACs with a time of 2:08.09 on Friday afternoon, and came back Saturday to win the 400 IM, finishing in 4:32.62. She became the first Tufts swimmer to win two individual titles since the NESCAC meet started three years ago.

Sumiyoshi came back Sunday and took fourth in the 200 back, touching home with a time of 2:09.25. In addition, Sumiyoshi, along with freshman Meghan Wallach, sophomore Susan Ascoli, and freshman Katie Mims, sprinted to fourth in the 200 freestyle relay.

"My goal for NESCACs was to win the 400 IM because it's my best event, and I also wanted to better my times in the other two events," Sumiyoshi said.

Even with these NESCAC successes, Sumiyoshi's season still was not over.

For the next three weeks, she trained tirelessly by herself in preparation for the National Championship Swim Meet at Emory University in Atlanta on Mar 13-15. Going to nationals was nothing new for Sumiyoshi, having made the trip in each of the past two seasons, competing in the same three events each year.

In 2001, she won the consolation final and took ninth overall in the 400 IM, and took 24th in the prelims of the 200 IM and 22nd in the prelims of the 200 Back, not qualifying for the finals in either event. The following year, she did not reach the finals in any of the three events, taking 27th in the 200 Back, 28th in the 200 IM, and was disqualified in the 400 IM.

Despite her success during the regular season, Sumiyoshi was determined to improve on her finishes this season at the national meet.

"I really wanted to place in the top eight in one of the three events," she said. "I'd never been named an All-American, so I really wanted to get that this year."

She earned the fourth seed in both the 200 and 400 IM, and the 21st seed in the 200 Back.

On Thursday, Mar 13, Sumiyoshi competed in the 200 IM, taking ninth in the preliminary round, missing the finals by a mere quarter of a second. Nonetheless, she came out unfettered in the consolation final and won the event with a time of 2:07.99, almost a full second better than her preliminary mark. She took ninth overall in the event, missing All-American honors by .25 seconds.

Fresh off her first ever top ten finish at Nationals, Sumiyoshi came out of the gates on Friday in the 400 IM poised to improve on her already impressive finish the day before.

"Improve" turned out to be quite the understatement, as Sumiyohsi flew out of the starting block and never looked back, finishing fifth in the prelims with a time of 4:33.31. In the finals, Sumiyoshi curtailed her time by almost three seconds, placing fourth overall with a time of 4:30.58, giving her an All-American status.

Not wanting her magical season to end, the newly-crowned All-American came out on Saturday to compete in the 200 backstroke. Though she placed 21st, Sumiyoshi was unable to qualify for the finals, bringing an end to her season.

This season alone, she improved her school records in the 200 and 400 IM, and the 100 and 200 back. She was named an All-American, finished in the top 10 in the nation in two events, and drastically improved her ranking in all three events from previous years at nationals.

"The season was great because the freshmen were always so enthusiastic, and the seniors were the heart of the team, motivating us and psyching us up for every single swim meet," Sumiyoshi said. "The highlight of the season for me was the Bates meet when we won by only two points, and at the end, some of the seniors began to cry because they were so excited because they are our big rivals and we haven't beaten them in a while."