Coming back after winter break, the women's swimming team suffered a 178.5 to 117.5 loss at Wesleyan, its first defeat in three straight meets heading into the break.
"They were gunning for us," said coach Nancy Bigelow. "We had beaten them the last few years, so they really wanted to get this one."
There was more to it than Wesleyan's determination, though. The Jumbos had just returned late Friday night from a nine-day training session in the Dominican Republic. Tufts, along with other swim teams, headed down not only to train, but also to donate food and other supplies to aid the rough living situation in the D.R.
"It went well and was a great experience," Bigelow said. "It was a fun trip, the swimmers worked very hard, and we were able to do something meaningful for people there."
The trip took its toll, however. The swimmers only had one day back home before they had to turn around Sunday morning and head to Connecticut.
Wesleyan, on the other hand, had returned from their training trip to California on Tuesday. They had a meet Wednesday and were back in the swing of things, rested and prepared for Sunday's meet.
The Cardinals came out of the gate swimming at a torrid pace, winning the first seven events before Tufts posted a first place finisher. This put the Jumbos in a hole from which they were never able to recover.
"We were in great shape," said Bigelow. "Unfortunately, we were just too tired to swim our best."
In the end, Wesleyan won 12 of 16 events. Two of Tufts' victories came from junior Jessica Schwartz, who recently returned from a semester abroad. She made an immediate impact, winning off both the one meter board and the three meter board.
"It is good to have Jessica back," said Bigelow. "She came on the trip and worked hard. She was definitely excited to get back out there."
The Jumbos' biggest weakness this season has been that they have not had divers ready for competition. However, they now have Schwartz and sophomore Sarah Goldman.
Sophomore Jessica Bollinger swam well in the 500 yard freestyle, posting a winning time of 5:25.02. She also placed second in the 1000 freestyle (11:05.81). Freshman Bianca Spinosa continued her strong swimming as she won the 100 fly with a time of 1:00.01. Unfortunately for Tufts, that was the last of the victories.
Senior quad-captain Erica Weitz posted two second-place finishes, swimming a 2:18.00 in the 200 backstroke and tying Wesleyan swimmer Kate Krems in the 200 butterfly (2:17.52).
Tufts fell to 3-2 on the season while the Cardinals, achieving their second consecutive victory, improved to 3-2.
The Jumbos have a busy weekend coming up. On Saturday, the team will travel to Trinity for a meet. Sunday, they turn right around and swim against a tough MIT team that will be looking for revenge from last year.
"We should be able to beat Trinity," said Bigelow. "They have some good swimmers, but we have a lot more depth. Sunday will be interesting. If we swim well, it will be a good meet. Last year I thought we had very little chance against MIT, but we ended up winning."
As it gets closer to NESCAC championships, the swimmers are doing all they can to improve and get their times down. Each meet provides a test and lets them know how they stack up against the competition.
"We are preparing very hard right now for the end of the year," said Bigelow. "So every race is good for the girls to improve their times."
