The men's swimming and diving team knew that finishing at the top of the conference would be a tough task this weekend. But in a performance that showed their depth, the Jumbos held onto second place throughout the three-day weekend of the NESCAC Championships and emerged as the top team behind the powerhouse winners from Williams.
Although Tufts had only two top-three finishes, the team's depth overwhelmed its closest competitors. Tufts' score of 1,489.5 was well ahead of third place Amherst's 1,399, allowing the Jumbos to avenge the two-point deficit that left them in third-place behind the Lord Jeffs at the NESCACs last year.
"I think this last meet showed us that every single yard we did in practice and all the difficulties we went through finally paid off," junior James Longhurst said. "Last year was a disappointment because we lost by two points to Amherst, and we were determined to never let that happen again. Doing so well in this meet really capped off the season and showed us that all the hard work paid off."
This time, Tufts was off and running with a strong showing on the opening day of the meet. Both the 200 freestyle and 400 medley relays hit NCAA B cut times on the day, though the quartet of junior Andrew Shields and freshmen Gordy Jenkins, Andrew Altman and David Meyer did so in the event's preliminaries. Shields, Meyer and fellow freshman Matthew Glenn teamed with sophomore Lawrence Chan in the 400 medley to hit the exact mark for the B cut time of 3:28.85.
"It was very important we got out to a good start," junior Ben Moskowitz said. "We wanted to set the tone for the meet. I think the way everyone swam on Friday was an indication of how hard we worked and our success. We had great fan support and everything went great for us."
The strong performances in the relays were something coach Adam Hoyt had emphasized to his team, and the Jumbos delivered early on and throughout the meet. Tufts took fifth place in every relay of the weekend and also beat the B cut time in the final event, the 400 free relay.
The top individual finishes for Tufts came from freshman Chris Vorlicek and sophomore diver Rob Matera. Matera, who had only one loss on the season, took fourth place in the one-meter dive Friday, but came back Sunday with a second-place showing.
"Our team doesn't really have any stars that stand out from the rest, so we rely mostly on depth," junior James Longhurst said. "So when we see Amherst winning relays and winning events and Williams winning events, we come back and get third and fourth and fifth. It was the rest of the team that was able to carry us into second place because it wasn't any one person getting all the points."
Vorlicek was one of the busiest Jumbos of the weekend, with his most impressive performance being a second-place finish in the 400 IM. His time of 4:08.21 set a new Tufts record and was just inside the NCAA qualifying time. The freshman also added a fifth-place finish in the 200 breaststroke.
The breaststroke events were some of Tufts' best of the weekend, and it was Chan and Longhurst who led the way. The pair hit NCAA B cut times in the 100 breaststroke, with Longhurst coming in fourth (58.41) and Chan just behind in fifth (59.67). On Friday they also finished in the same order in the 50-yard breaststroke, and Longhurst, the top Tufts finisher and 19th overall, added a sixth-place finish in the 200-yard race.
"We certainly had some strong events in the breaststroke for sure," Hoyt said. "Really the whole weekend what I was most impressed by was the total team effort. In a sport like swimming that is kind of construed as individual the guys all really performed at their best all at the same time. It was very impressive."
Glenn and senior tri-captain Sean Sullivan were strong in the backstroke sprints, with the freshman finishing in fifth in each while Sullivan picked up a sixth- and eighth-place finish for his team. Shields also was a major contributor for Tufts, participating in four relays and delivering three top eight finishes.
The meet was a culmination of a strong season for the Jumbos, who will now wait to hear if their times are good enough for NCAA invitations.
"It was a huge accomplishment," Moskowitz said. "We didn't really expect to finish first, but we knew it would be a tough battle with Amherst. We were the team to beat out there and I think everyone felt the same way. It is a testament to our coaching, our leadership and all the great swims we had this weekend."
