Senior Kendall Swett ended her record-breaking diving career in spectacular fashion, capturing both the 1- and 3-meter diving titles at the NCAA Championships over spring break.
As a team, Tufts garnered 45 points, which placed it at 21st out of 52 teams. Fourty of those points came from Swett, with sophomore Lindsay Gardel accounting for the last five.
Only four hours away from her hometown of Akron, Ohio, Swett's last meet as a Jumbo was a memorable one, as she broke her own record of 493.20 points in the 3-meter dive with a score of 509.30. It took an otherworldly performance from Swett to win the championship, since the two who followed her in points - Smith College's Shanti Freitas (507.60) and Maggie Rezac, her former teammate from Lake Forest, (495.65) - also broke her old record.
Swett knew she was in for a special day when she executed the inward 2.5 dive, something that normally gives her some trouble, better than she had ever done before in the 3-meter event.
"My first three dives were good but I wanted them to be better. I was nervous but after the third dive I said [to myself], 'You've got nothing to lose,' and I did my fourth dive which I haven't really done super well throughout the entire season ... I got eights, 8.5s and nines, which is unheard of in an optional dive," Swett said. "That was probably the turning point for me in finals."
In the 1-meter dive, Swett's score of 455.20 edged Rezac (453.45) and her practice rival, MIT's Doria Holbrook (438.65).
"I don't normally do as well in 1-meter than 3-meter and I was just happy to be there at the finals," she said. "I didn't put any pressure on myself and did the dives I've done every day and did them better than I've ever done them. It was one of the major highlights of that day."
Coach Nancy Bigelow was thrilled to see Swett's career as a Jumbo end so triumphantly.
"She was our first national champion and to see her do it again ... My heart was pounding out of my chest during the final event," she said. "It was important for Kendall to do well and Tufts was extremely proud of her. There are no words for how I felt. It's a culmination of her 15 or so years of diving; all the pieces fell into place for her."
Swett's performance was all the more remarkable considering she had been recovering from the flu during the week leading up to the championships. The illness did not deter her whatsoever, as the senior was able to use her past experience on the NCAA stage to key in on her important dives.
"You're just focused more on what you have to do," Swett said. "It was a long day; it was really hard and I wasn't feeling great, but when the finals came I was like, 'Well I have this last bit of energy left and I'm going to put it all in this,' which is exactly what you want to do."
The other Tufts diving standout, Gardel, had more of an up-and-down weekend. She managed to pick up her second honorable-mention All-American distinction following a 12th-place showing in the 3-meter dive. But due to a mixup in dive order in the 1-meter diving event, she scored zero points on one dive, which jeopardized her chance of being in the top 16.
"She did the wrong dive when they announced the dive number, and the two dives that she confused have the same number but are in a different order," diving coach Brad Snodgrass said. "It's the kind of mistake that every diver makes once in their life and unfortunately she made it that week. She was a great sport about it. It's something that brings a lot of tears but she still almost made the top 16 despite the missed dive."
The only swimmer to compete, freshman Megan Kono, also got her first taste of NCAA championship action and came away with valuable experience.
In the 500-yard freestyle, Kono swam 5:06.13 for 21st place out of 44 swimmers and followed that up with a 29th place (1:57.25) showing in the 200-yard freestyle. She did best in the 1,650 freestyle where her 19th place finish (17:40.20) was just three spots shy of earning her an honorable mention All-American plaque.
"It was still her second-best time of her life in the 500, and she did her second-best time in the 1,650 free," Bigelow said. "She had a very solid performance. As a freshman it was a great learning experience for her and next year she's going to come back stronger."
Snodgrass, who also coaches the MIT and Northeastern divers, was also honored at the NCAA Championships with the Diving Coach of the Year award. All together, he had four of his divers get invited to Nationals: Swett, Gardel, Holbrook and Tufts sophomore Rob Matera, who dove this past weekend in the men's national championship meet.
"It's one of those things that happens just once in a lifetime so it's really a thrill for me," Snodgrass said. "It's also reflective of the diver I've been lucky enough to have coached - Swett - so I really owe it to her as well."
