After an early-January training trip to Maui, the Jumbos went to slightly less-exotic Cambridge this past weekend to take on MIT in a dual-meet.
The Engineers emerged victorious, 159.5-138.5, in an exciting meet that came down to the final event. Had Tufts swept the top three places in the 400-yard freestyle relay, an extremely difficult task, it would have won the meet by a point.
"We knew it was going to be a really tough meet," junior Chloe Young-Hyman said. "But people had some really good swims."
Tufts won five events overall, combined with several strong second-place performances. Young-Hyman stood out for Tufts, winning all three individual events she participated in and swimming on a winning relay.
She won the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:08.53, the 50-yard freestyle in 25.68 and the 100-yard freestyle in 55.38. Along with freshman Michelle Caswell, senior tri-captain Meghan Wallach and senior Katie Mims, Young-Hyman was part of the winning 400-yard medley relay team, which swam 4:11.03. Sophomore Allison Palomaki's win in the 200-yard breaststroke gave the Jumbos their other event victory.
The team left Hawaii the night of Jan. 13 and arrived back in Boston after a full night of travel, jet-lagged and fatigued, with barely enough time to unpack before a meet against Wesleyan and Williams the next day,
"I think it was a great experience to get away from school and have nothing else to worry about except swimming," Young-Hyman said. "We really came together."
However, the chemistry fostered on the trip did not translate into a complete victory. Tufts split the meet, beating Wesleyan 163-133 but losing to Williams 179-114. A swimming powerhouse, Williams has placed no lower than fourth at Division III Nationals every year since 1982.
"I wasn't expecting any super performances," said coach Nancy Bigelow, reflecting on the hard week of training and day of travel that had preceded the meet.
Tufts won one event overall with a victory in the 100-yard freestyle, again by Young-Hyman. She swam it in 55.15 seconds, a new personal record, defeating second-place freshman Kristan McIntosh of Williams by .05 of a second.
Tufts also had a strong 200-yard medley relay team, which has consistently been the Jumbos' best event. Prior to its second-place finish behind a solid Williams team, the Tufts' medley relay squad had not yet lost this season. The foursome of Caswell, Young-Hyman, Wallach and Mims swam a time of 1:53.03. Young-Hyman also placed second in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard breaststroke. Also notable was Caswell's second-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke.
Williams swam the last three events of the meet as an exhibition after building a comfortable lead. As a result, senior diver Jess Schwartz and the 200-yard freestyle relay team scored first, while coming in second overall.
The Jumbos have one more meet at Bates before the Middlebury Invitational on Feb. 5th.
Only 24 swimmers per team are allowed to compete at the NESCAC Championships, so the Middlebury Invitational acts as the final and climatic meet for the remaining swimmers.
"The Middlebury Invitational is a big meet for half the team," Bigelow said.
The NESCAC championships follow two weeks later, where the Jumbos are aiming for a top-four finish.
