The Tufts men's swimming and diving team had something to prove at the NESCAC Championship meet at Williams last weekend. Having failed to ever place higher than third in the meet, which was inaugurated in 2000, the Jumbos knew they had to make a statement.
"We were an underdog; you could say that," senior quad-captain Jason Kapit said. "We wanted to establish ourselves as something to be reckoned with in the NESCAC."
And they did, finishing second and beating out a strong Amherst team that was set to upstage the Jumbos once again. Although Williams handily won the meet, Tufts finished in a record second place, eclipsing the third-place Lord Jeffs by 168 points. The team also qualified seven swimmers for Nationals and helped second-year coach Adam Hoyt take home NESCAC Coach of the Year honors.
"We had some very good swims during trials, and thus we got more people put into the finals and consolation races," Kapit said. "Once we got there, we maybe had an edge. Those numbers certainly helped us against Amherst.
Indeed, if the Jumbos proved anything at last weekend's meet, it was that team depth is more valuable than race victories.
Although senior Jon Godsey was the only Tufts swimmer to win an individual race, compared to Amherst's four individual victories, the Jumbos' team depth led them past the Lord Jeffs. In fact, in the 21 races that the Jumbos didn't place first in, they notched 21 finishes between second and sixth place.
"We're a very strong team in terms of depth, and we definitely have a lot of people who are capable of [scoring points for the team]," Kapit said. "We gave Williams a run for their money this time."
Williams, heavily favored to win the meet, did so with 2068 total points to Tufts' 1522, taking the top spot for the sixth time in the seven years the meet has been held.
"Obviously, they're extremely strong," Kapit said. "You know every year going in that they're going to be the best competition. They're really one of the best teams in the country."
Still, Tufts more than showed it could compete with the powerhouse Ephs. The Jumbos' 800-yard freestyle relay team finished second to the Ephs by less than three-tenths of a second in a race with times averaging around seven minutes. The Jumbos' 200-yard freestyle relay team also nearly upended the Ephs, losing by less than two-tenths of a second.
Godsey, senior Brett Baker and junior Greg Bettencourt all had outstanding races. In addition to placing fourth in the 50-yard and fifth in the 100-yard backstroke, Godsey earned the only Tufts individual race victory of the meet, beating out Amherst senior Rick Estacio, the meet's fifth overall point scorer, by nearly a full second in the 200-yard backstroke event.
"Estacio is [a senior], and he and Jon have always been competing with each other since freshman year," junior Mike Kinsella said. "Estacio usually wins a lot, and this was Godsey's last event in the NESCAC, and Godsey ends up taking it. So after the race, they were all up on the podium, and I don't think Estacio was taking it so well. It looked like he was going to cry. [Our team] got up close to the podium, and when they announced Godsey's name we all went nuts."
Baker took second in both the 50- and 200-yard freestyle and third in the 100-yard freestyle events, while Bettencourt took second in the 500-yard, third in the 200-yard and fourth in the mile freestyle events.
In addition to Godsey's triumph, Bettencourt also provided drama of his own. In his second-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle, he trounced his previous best of 4:44, setting a new Tufts record in 4:33.17 in the preliminary race, good enough for a national "B" cut and qualifying him for Nationals.
Bettencourt will be joined at Nationals by Godsey, Baker, Kapit, Kinsella, junior Justin Fanning and freshman Andrew Shields, all of whom will be headed to Minneapolis in mid-March.
