Team makes waves at season opener

Most teams use the first match of the year to work out their kinks and tune-up for the remainder of the season. For the men's swimming and diving team Saturday at UMass Dartmouth, however, there just weren't too many kinks to work out in its 208-81 bludgeoning of Connecticut College.

Although the meet was held at UMass Dartmouth, Tufts only receives a mark on its record for facing off against the Connecticut College Bantams, a member of the NESCAC.

Had the Jumbos been scored against UMass Dartmouth, they would have come home dual-champions, as they outscored UMass 234-55.

Tufts rolled to victory over the Camels after placing first in 14 out of the 18 total events. The swim team gained first in 12 out of its 16 events, while the diving team earned the top spot in both of its tries, the one meter and three meter dives.

Not known for its swimming and diving prowess, Connecticut College worried some Jumbos prior to the match, who feared Tufts might take the match too lightly. Even swimming coach Don Megerle had his concerns, fearing the weaker competition could produce a lackluster performance. However these doubts were snuffed when the Jumbos continued to win event after event.

"The kids swam even better than I had anticipated," Megerle said. "I'm not sure what it was, maybe an intensity from [Connecticut College or UMass Dartmouth], but we swam quite well given the relatively weak teams. We had several best unshaven swims."

Megerle was referring to the swimmers, who have yet to shave down to make themselves quicker in the water. This ritual usually occurs later in the year before the larger invitational meets, and typically yields faster times.

Swimmers felt the same as Megerle regarding the team's performance.

"It's good to know that at this point of the season, we are better now than we were last year," sophomore swimmer Marc Katz said. "We had some really great swims [on Saturday]."

For the swimmers, junior Seth Baron and seniors Tyler Duckworth and Nathan Brown led the way. Baron took first in both the 500 yard freestyle and the 200 yard fly, the latter of which wasn't scored. Duckworth and Nathan won the 400 yard inter-medley and the 100 yard freestyle with times of 4:27.32 and 54.19, respectively.

The presence of senior Nick Ghoussaini, junior Mike Rochette, and sophomores Brett Baker, Jono Godsey and Steve Ward was also felt, as each placed first in their respective races.

The much heralded Jumbo freshman class weighed in too, with a strong showing by Sloan Harris, Greg Bettencourt and Ray Radovich.

"They're a good bunch," Megerle said of his class of 2007. "Ray [Radovich] had possibly the best swim of the day, it's unfortunate it wasn't counted towards the final standings."

Because of the nature of the three team/one opponent meet, some of the events that the Jumbos won weren't counted.

The divers went home happy as well, with graduate student Connell Cloyd and sophomore Todd Putnam each placing first in one of their events. Cloyd took first in the three meter dive, while Putnam took first in the one meter event. In both events, the two Jumbo divers placed first and second, silencing their competition.