Hamilton Pool may be the smallest in its conference, but despite the six lanes and asthma-inducing air, the Tufts men's swimming and diving team continues to handle its NESCAC competition. On Saturday, Tufts improved its record to 7-1 with a 160-65 win over Bates marked by Jumbos in the top slot in every event.
The focus of the meet was on the graduating seniors who were swimming in their last home meet. The bleachers were packed with parents and students, and fans peered through the glass windows behind the starting blocks to get a good view. Sporting matching navy blue warm-ups, seniors Seth Baron, Todd Bohannon, Matt Cable, Serge Korepin, Mike Rochette and Chris Valente received flowers at the pre-meet ceremony to commemorate their last meet in Medford.
Part of being a senior is cherishing the memories and friends made along the way. And for senior tri-captain Mike Rochette, his final meet at the notorious Hamilton Pool was the last in a career which has defined much of his experience at Tufts.
"Even though you could host a better meet in some bathtubs,"said Rochette, "I will always have great memories of the people that I have shared [the pool] with."
While the women's team was challenged by a competitive Bates squad, Rochette pointed out that the seniors on the men's side were able to enjoy the meet without too much pressure.
"The men's meet was really laid back for both teams," said Rochette. "So we got to enjoy our last dual meet before we get to championships."
Rochette swam in both of the winning relays and continued to be the top sprint breaststroker, winning the 100-yard breaststroke (1:01.83) by almost three seconds.
The Jumbos got an early lead when freshman Sean Sullivan, Rochette, junior Jason Kapit, and Baron easily won the 400 medley relay by about six seconds (3:42.17). In addition to anchoring the winning relay team, Baron also won the 200 and 100 butterfly events with times of 1:57.55 and 53.82 respectively.
Juniors Seth Rosenberg and Brett Baker also won both of their two individual events. Rosenberg proved his versatility by winning the 400 IM (4:25.54) and the 200 IM (2:04.75) and also came in second to junior teammate Steven Ward in the 200 breastroke. Ward won with a time of 2:21.95. Baker continued to swim fast in the sprint freestyle events. He won the 50 free in 22.39 seconds and the 100 free in 48.87 seconds.
In the 200-yard freestyle Tufts earned first, second, and third places in the 200 freestyle led by sophomore Justin Fanning who won with a 1:48.39. Fanning also finished second in the 100 free beind Baker. Junior Jon Godsey won the 100 backstroke with an impressive time of 54.73. Sophomore Ray Radovich won the 200 backstroke with a 2:05.11.
Freshmen Jeff Goldberg also had a solid meet as he cruised to a win in the 500 freestyle (5:11.41) and earned second in the 200 freestyle (1:54.18).
This Saturday, the swim team will compete at the MIT Invitational before they begin resting up for the NESCAC championships. The Jumbos are anything but complacent with their current standing and are looking forward to the championship.
"There are still a few weeks left of the season and we have a lot we want to accomplish at the MIT Invitational and NESCAC championships," said Rochette. "We are really looking forward to those meets."
