The women's swimming and diving team has a lot to live up to this season. After having one of its most successful years in history, going 7-2 in the NESCAC and placing fourth in the conference postseason meet, the squad hopes to continue to improve this season and possibly place in the top three in the NESCAC.
But continued success will not come without a lot of hard work. The squad will have to move on despite the graduation of seniors Mika Sumiyoshi, Amanda Bloom, Kierstyn Thayer, Bridget McElroy, Aly Fleming, and diver Beth Wecksell. Additionally, sophomore Alaina Thiel, who was one of the top swimmers last year, quit the team for personal reasons.
"There are a lot of girls that will score points and help us win close meets," sophomore Dierdre Cannell said. "We have a lot of freshman this year as well and I think that they will add a lot of depth to the team. It is definitely possible to echo our success from last year. Even though we've lost a few really good swimmers, I think that the freshmen will be able to pick up the slack and contribute to the overall strength of our team."
The most difficult loss for the squad will certainly be Sumiyoshi, an All-American in her junior and senior campaigns, including in two events her senior season. Sumiyoshi was one of the most dominant swimmers in all of New England, and virtually guaranteed the team wins in every event in which she participated.
Despite her loss, however, the team is confident the returning swimmers and incoming freshman will be able to fill the void.
"I think that our entire team will step up to make up for the loss of Mika," Cannell said. "It will be really hard because Mika had a really strong presence both in and out of the water, but because our team has a lot of versatility and strength, we can overcome this loss."
The Jumbos, similarly to last season, have a lot of depth in each of the four classes, with numerous women able to swim in numerous events. The team will look to the leadership of its senior quad-captains, Sarah Ferranti, Suzi Ascoli, Kate Sweeney, and Erica Wietz to lead them through the season. The four anchor a strong senior class that also includes classmates Katie Ferguson, Isabel Alonso, and Alicia Flanagan.
"Although last year's class will be sorely missed, I think that this year's senior class is more than capable to replace them, especially those that were not able to train as much last year from being abroad are in much better condition already this year," sophomore Jess Bollinger said.
The junior class will be led by sprinters Katie Mims and Meghan Wallach, and distance swimmer Kristen Hyland. The three consistently placed in the top three in each of their events next season, with Mims focusing on short freestyle sprints, Wallach on short butterfly events, and Hyland on the distance freestyle events. Each of them will also play a big part in Tufts' relay teams, which have often made or broken meets for the Jumbos.
"I think that Katie Mims is going to have a fantastic season," coach Nancy Bigelow said. "She's been great so far in practice and she's going to have a terrific breakout year."
Aside from Sumiyoshi, the current class of sophomores was perhaps the most impressive last season. Led last season by Cannell, Thiel, Jess Bollinger, the then-freshmen consistently won their events at every meet and placed very high at NESCACs, to help the Jumbos to a fourth place finish.
This season, however, the onus will be put that much more on Bollinger and Cannell due to Thiel's departure. The two will have worked hard all offseason and Bigelow expects them to respond very well to the challenge.
"I expect Dierdre and Jess to have great years again," Bigelow said. "They both train really well and hopefully last year gave them a lot of confidence. In some ways it's easier as a sophomore, because you know the way things work and how other people swim, and you're just more used to everything."
The class of 2008 will likely make or break the team for Tufts this season. The main reason the Jumbos were so successful last season was not due to more first place finishes than other opponents, but rather more fourth, fifth, and sixth place finishes. It was the one or two points in every meet for which a Tufts swimmer beat out an opponent for that often put the Jumbos on top.
The squad has 20 freshmen this winter, and according to Cannell, all are capable of scoring valuable points for Tufts.
"There are a lot of really talented girls in the freshmen class," Cannell said. "Girls like Allison Palomaki, Monika Burns, Bianca Spinosa, and Tia Bassano are more than capable of overcoming any challenges that the season throws their way and really helping the team out."
Tufts' first chance to show its stuff will come tomorrow in Connecticut against the Connecticut College Camels, a dual meet they lost by a mere 14 points last season. The Jumbos will certainly be out for some revenge on the Camels.
