Women's swimming launches 2003-04 season

Women's swimming and diving coach Nancy Bigelow warned that the 2003-04 Tufts' campaign may start out slowly.

Unfortunately for the Jumbos, she was right.

Tufts kicked off its NESCAC season on Saturday in a dual meet with the Connecticut College Panthers and UMass-Dartmouth Corsairs. The Jumbos dominated the non-conference Corsairs 216 to 76, but narrowly fell to the NESCAC competitor Conn College 156 to 142.

"A lot of girls had really amazing swims," senior tri-captain Kierstyn Thayer said. "A lot of girls were swimming some events that they don't normally swim. We had some tough lineups, but overall I think we really performed extremely well."

The Jumbos participated in 13 individual races, two relays, and two diving events, placing first in six total events.

Senior tri-captain Mika Sumiyoshi took first in the 100 meter backstroke, the 100 meter butterfly, and the 400m Individual Medley. Freshmen Alaina Thiel (50m freestyle), Dierdre Cannell (100m breaststroke), and sophomore Beth Lopez (200m freestyle) all swam to first place finishes as well.

The two freshmen, along with classmate Jess Bollinger, swam in eight other races combined and never placed lower than fourth in any event, including relays.

"It's really exciting for us as a team, and even more so for them as individuals," Thayer said. "They really stepped it up and performed well, especially given that it was their first collegiate meet."

The Jumbos also tallied a number of second and third place results. Sophomore Katie Mims swam in four events on the afternoon, placing second in the 100m freestyle, third in the 50m freestyle, and second along with senior tri-captain Amanda Bloom, Thiel, and Cannell, in the 400m freestyle relay.

Classmate and distance swimmer Kristen Hyland also had a solid afternoon, placing third in the 1000m freestyle, and fourth in both the 500m free and 400m IM.

One reason for the narrow loss to the Panthers could be the absence of six Tufts juniors, who are finishing up study abroad programs this semester. Most notable is Erika Wietz, one of the Jumbos top sprinters, who qualified provisionally for nationals last season. The six absences have caused many of the girls to swim in events that they wouldn't normally swim in, a problem that should be rectified come second semester.

"It's exciting to know that once we get the six girls back, we'll be much stronger as a team and hard to beat when we're finally all back together and in shape," Thayer said.

The Jumbos look to build off this loss and learn from their mistakes heading into the rest of the NESCAC season.

"This was a good first meet to build off of, even though we didn't win," Thayer said. "It was a good starting point. Our team dynamic is really cohesive, and we're building off our strong unity."

Being the first meet of the season, the swimmers also were able to get comfortable with themselves and realize what they can and can't do, and get the butterflies out of their stomachs. Also, as teammates, they discovered the most effective ways to help their teammates during a race.

"Some people like everyone to be waiting at the end of the lane, while others just like everyone to be screaming and cheering really loudly," Thayer said. "Its things like that that we learned on Saturday and can use for the rest of the year."

The Jumbos next test will come a week from Wednesday, when they face non-conference opponent Wellesley. The Blue have consistently been a tough matchup for the Jumbos, as the two have developed a bit of a rivalry over the past few years.

"The Wellesley meet is going to be big," Thayer said. "We're all getting really charged for that one, because they have become one of our rivals and we're going to put forth everything we've got to get the win."