The women's swim team made a splash on Wednesday, blowing local rival Wellesley out of the water by a final score of 178-122. Several Jumbos came up with key performances on the day as the team earned its second win of the season.
The Jumbos started out on the right note, taking the 200 medley relay behind the leadership of senior tri-captain Chloe Young-Hyman. Young-Hyman combined with junior Tia Bassano, senior Eva Johnson, and sophomore Michelle Caswell to edge Wellesley by a mere half of a second.
Following this performance, senior tri-captain Jess Bollinger had a stellar performance of her own, winning the 1,000 freestyle in 11:09.07. Taking the first two events of the meet set the tone for the Jumbos, as they retained the lead throughout the afternoon.
"I did not really expect us to win that first relay," Bigelow said. "They had quicker times than us, so coming out of that with a win was a huge boost for the rest of the meet."
"I definitely think winning the first relay gave us a ton of confidence for the rest of the meet," Johnson added.
Bollinger's day was not complete with one win. She also came out on top with a win in the 500 freestyle (5:27.45). And if two wins weren't enough, she came within fractions of a second of her third win when she finished just behind Wellesley sophomore Jenny Wu in the 200 IM.
"Jess is having a great season so far," head coach Nancy Bigelow said. "In her senior year here, it is all coming together and she has the confidence to do well this season. She really wants to do well in her senior year, and she is not shying away from the work required to do that."
In addition to Bollinger's big day, junior diver Kendall Swett took two events for the Jumbos as well, finishing first in both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving. While the divers had to travel over to Wellesley to compete, Swett did not let this get in her way of obliterating yet another Tufts record. Swett finished 3-meter diving with a score of 297.25, shattering the previous record of 269.10, which she set on Nov. 18 against Conn. College.
"[Swett] is another member of the team that has really pushed herself to work hard and it is paying off for her," Bigelow added.
Not only did Swett pull through big for the Jumbos, but freshmen Lindsay Gardel and Kara Lindquist helped complete the diving part of the equation. Tufts divers finished one, two, three in both the one meter and the three meter events.
"Having our divers finish one two three is 32 points for us and that's huge," Bigelow said. "Knowing that you have that strength definitely gives you a huge boost during the meet."
The Jumbos continued their dominance behind a pair of wins from another rookie, freshman Meredith Cronin. Cronin won the 100 backstroke (1:02.76) and the 200 backstroke (2:15.35). Cronin may have tough competition however, as last season's record-setter Caswell, who is recovering from an illness, finished right behind her (1:04.19).
"I think everyone swam extremely well and everyone did a really good job of supporting one another," Young-Hyman said. "We really worked hard on accomplishing goals we established earlier this week, and it was really nice to see the team come out and come together to accomplish those."
Additional winners included Young-Hyman in the 100 breaststroke, with a time of 1:09.73, and the team's two relay teams. In addition to the win in the 200, the Jumbos also took the 400 with in 3:43.84, with Cronin replacing Caswell.
"We are really pulling ourselves together as individuals and as a team as we get into the heart of the season," senior tri-captain Shanti Sattler said. "It is going to be exciting to see the season play out. We have some very strong swimmers, and our meet Wednesday showed that."
The Jumbos will look to continue the winning streak Saturday at home when they host NESCAC rival Bowdoin at Hamilton pool at 12.
