Last year, the men's swimming and diving team finished third in the NESCAC Championships and sent one swimmer, co-captain Greg Bettencourt (LA '07), to the NCAA Championships. The squad's finish was a step down from its 2005-06 performance, in which the Jumbos finished second in NESCACs and sent a whopping seven swimmers to Nationals, leading to a program-best 10th-place finish.
Now the team is looking to improve on last year's performance and once again return to the NESCAC's top two.
"We definitely want to do better than third," sophomore Lawrence Chan said. "We only missed out on second by two points last year. The team seems really excited. We had a productive team meeting, and everybody expressed a desire to do better. Hopefully, we can have fun and have a good year."
That task will not be easy for Tufts, as the team lost several seniors who were integral to its success. Most notable is the loss of Bettencourt, easily the team's best swimmer last year. Bettencourt headlined the 200-, 500-, 1,000- and 1,650-meter freestyle events and he was the only Jumbo to earn an invitation to Nationals. Bettencourt set school records in the 1,000- and 1,650-meter freestyle, and finished a NESCAC champion in both events. Nevertheless, the team is confident it can overcome the loss.
"This year, we do have a smaller senior class, but I think that our freshman and sophomore classes have a lot of talent," senior Jon Fichman said. "They're hardworking and very enthusiastic, and I think that they can make up for any loss from the Class of '07."
The Tufts squad features 15 new freshmen spread across every swimming stroke, including one diver. These newcomers will have to look for leadership from their new team captains, seniors Drew Curhan, Jeff Goldberg and Sean Sullivan, who have already started to show their support for the first-years.
"It's definitely one of the strongest freshmen classes that we've ever had," Goldberg said. "Obviously, the seniors were very talented last year, but our entire team is strong this year. The potential to improve is enormous. We've already been putting in the effort, and hopefully, we'll see the results."
The team has already had a three-team, all-relay scrimmage at Wheaton in which Tufts finished second. The results were not important, as the Jumbos were just looking to experience a competitive environment.
"For me, it felt really good, because having been abroad last year, it's been a really long time since I've been in that kind of atmosphere," Fichman said. "I think that meet made me realize how much I missed it. And for the underclassmen, it was really good because it was a low-stress meet. It was just a good way to start the season in a way that wasn't intimidating."
The Jumbos will now look ahead to their meet at home against Trinity on Saturday.
"I think it will be a little shaky with everybody just starting out again," senior Eric Connelly said. "We'll do our best to put in a bunch of great swims - maybe not from everybody, but it's the first race of the year. Hopefully, we'll be able to take the win over Trinity at home."
The team looks to build upon the success it has had under coach Adam Hoyt. After taking over the program from legendary coach Don Megerle three years ago, Hoyt has demonstrated his ability to groom young talent, culminating in the team's all-time best finish in the 2005-2006 season.
"I think he's been one of the best coaches I've ever had," Curhan said. "He makes you work for yourself. He motivates you to want to work your hardest. You're not doing it because of fear of being yelled at - you're doing it for him. He makes you want to swim well and swim better. He points out when you're doing really well, and when you're having a tough set, he'll just tell you to focus on the little things that you can control."
"We've always had a really strong program," Fichman added. "The Tufts swimming tradition goes back a long way. Hoyt has brought a great deal of leadership in the sense that he puts a lot of trust in us as adults. He doesn't underestimate our abilities, and as a result, we all want to do better for ourselves. And when you want to do better for yourself, you want to do better for the team as well."
