Hamilton pool turned into a blood bath on Saturday afternoon, as the men's swimming and diving team annihilated both Wheaton and NESCAC rival Bates.
The Jumbos cruised by the visiting teams, scoring twice as many points as both opponents, and added two more wins to their overall record of 10-1. Collectively the men dominated nine events, resulting in a lopsided score of 188-84 against Bates, and 170-86 against Wheaton.
With the two wins this weekend the men now turn their focus to the upcoming MIT Invitational on Saturday.
"It's been a great journey," senior Mike Kinsella said. "It's nice to see what we've become with all the hard work we've put in."
Jumbo senior co-captains Greg Bettencourt and Ray Radovich led the way for the Jumbos, sweeping two events apiece. Radovich dominated the 1000 freestyle by 10 seconds with a time of 10:48.53, and earned a first-place finish in the 200 breaststroke. Bettencourt blew away the competition in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:44.55, beating the runner-up, Tufts freshman Patrick Kinsella, by 13 seconds. Bettencourt was also the first to touch the wall in the 200 freestyle, an event for which he has already earned a national 'B' cut time. In addition, the Jumbos 400 medley 'A' team took home a first-place finish with a time of 3:33.68.
Also helping the Jumbos' cause was freshman diver Rob Matera, who, in the three-meter dive, barely edged his Bates opponent, junior Dan Perry, 226.00 to 225.75. Unfortunately for the Jumbos, Matera did not meet as much success in the one-meter and finished in second place behind Perry with 215.70 points.
For coach Adam Hoyt, Saturday's convincing victories represented the improvement of his team from its first meet in November.
"The guys started out the season as swimmers, and now they are a team," Hoyt said. "They now understand that they are not only swimming for themselves, but they are swimming for those other guys out on the platform."
On Saturday, Tufts will compete in the MIT Invitational, the team's last regular season meet, and the last chance for the members of the squad to vie for a spot on the NESCAC team, which will represent the Jumbos in the NESCAC Championships beginning Feb. 23rd.
"We have more guys so it's a tough decision," Hoyt said. "Making the team is based on the times, but things such as attitude, work ethic and how guys have carried themselves throughout the season also factor into the decision. Everyone has to earn their spot on the team, and there are a number of different places to do so."
Hoyt, however, is not the only one who places a tremendous amount of importance on the final meet. The Jumbo swimmers will also have another opportunity to post national times.
"MIT is important because we want see our guys do their best," Kinsella said. "It's definitely the last chance for the guys on the bubble. MIT has a fast pool, and it's a great chance for fast swims and trying to achieve your goals for NESCACs."
The Jumbos can rest assured that there will be some friendly faces at the MIT pool this weekend. In addition to welcoming the Jumbos, the Engineers will also host Middlebury, Wheaton, and Williams - a team to which Tufts lost 163-125 earlier this month.
"Swimming at Williams gave us motivation," Kinsella said. "Anytime you get beat you don't want it to happen again so you train harder. As the season progresses you get hungrier and hungrier, and you start to see the possibilities at the end. It's becoming real now, and we couldn't be more excited."
