After a malfunction at Brandeis' Linsey Pool this past week, the men's swimming and diving team was granted an unexpected home meet on its schedule Saturday. The Jumbos enjoyed the friendly confines of Hamilton Pool as they cruised to a 165-124 victory over the Judges.
It was a dominating performance by the Jumbos in their second dual meet of the season. Last weekend, the team came away with a second-place finish at the MIT Invitational, and on Saturday it received another string of top performances from underclassmen in dispatching the Judges, who had finished third at MIT.
"To start off with some wins ... is great," junior Ben Mitchell said. "We don't rest for any of these meets; a lot of teams like to taper off before a meet but we don't do that. The outcome doesn't matter, but if we have good swims ... we will be that much faster and win more meets."
The Jumbos were led on Saturday by multiple top times from sophomores Kyle Jones and Lawrence Chan and freshmen Matthew Glenn and David Meyer. Chan, Glenn and Meyer teamed up with sophomore Rob Delean to pick up first place in the opening event, the 400 medley relay.
Chan finished the 50 breaststroke in 27.44 seconds, close to his pool record time of 27 seconds flat from earlier this year, while Meyer easily won the 200-yard backstroke in 2:01.38.
Several other young Jumbos continued their strong early-season performances. Jones, who picked up one of three Tufts wins last weekend in the 200 backstroke, finished in first in the 1,000-yard freestyle Saturday. The sophomore also had the top time in the 200 IM with a 2:04.97, but that race was conceded to the Judges.
Tufts was impressive in the 50-yard backstroke win, as Glenn's 26.13 finish was just 0.13 seconds ahead of classmate Gordy Jenkins. Freshman Joe Lessard, who had one of a handful of second-place finishes last weekend at MIT, displayed an impressive finishing kick as he won the 200-yard freestyle by just over a second, edging Brandeis junior Bobby Morse. Freshman Andrew Altman also came through with a big victory for the Jumbos in the 50 freestyle in 22.66.
"Looking back on the results from last year, we have all been surpassing our personal bests from this time last season," junior Ben Moskowitz said. "I think everyone is really excited about how we are swimming - from top to bottom, the freshmen and the seniors, the performances and times we are coming up with are well above our expectations."
The Jumbos continued their domination in the diving events as well on Saturday, led by sophomore Rob Matera, who remains undefeated in both the 1- and 3-meter dive events so far this season. Freshman Trevor Stark also has emerged early this season, finishing second in both events.
One bright spot on the Judges' end was the performance of sophomore James Liu. He picked up wins in both the 200- and 50-yard butterfly events, just besting Altman and Moskowitz in 24.95 seconds, along with a win in the 100 freestyle. Brandeis also got key contributions from Morse, who added a win in the 500 free to his second-place finish int the 200 free.
"I think we are pretty solid all around, but right now we have a lot of guys who are all at the same level," Mitchell said. "We have a lot of great butterfliers, but there is no real superstar. It will be awesome to see who really comes though as they compete for spots. I don't think we have any weak spots on our team. The freshman really filled in places where we were missing and that has been great."
Tufts goes into winter break 2-0 in head-to-head meets. The Jumbos will be tested after the break, however, as on the first day back from break, they face a Boston College team that has been swimming since the end of October. The squad will then continue its NESCAC schedule with a meet with Wesleyan and Williams.
"Even though we have a break from school, we don't break from swimming," Moskowitz said. "We will be down in Florida training over winter break and we will bond down there. We always come back a lot stronger."
