While the men's swimming and diving team has performed at a consistently high level during the NESCAC Championships, with a top-three finish five of the last six seasons, it's fairly clear that if the Jumbos want to finally claim the crown for themselves, they'll have to get through Williams first.
With six straight championship titles under their belts, the Ephs have had their way with the conference competition in the water. Last season, Williams claimed the league title with a 1,860.5-point first-place showing to beat out Tufts' second-place tally of 1,489.5 points. But with a pair of runner-up finishes across the last three seasons and a 23-point loss to the Ephs in a Jan. 17 tri-meet with Wesleyan, the squad knows it has the ability and the potential to compete with the regularly dominant team from Williamstown when the conference championships commence today at Wesleyan.
"We have felt that we can compete with Williams for the past couple of years," senior quad-captain Andrew Shields said. "Now that we have the deepest team in the league, we feel that we're ready to finally have the times to back up our team's strong competitiveness."
This season's NESCACs-bound team will feature several promising freshmen. Owen Rood boasts Tufts' top time in the 50-yard freestyle at 21.41 seconds, which is the second-fastest mark in the conference. Fellow freshmen Andrew Vidikan and Brandon Ching have posted the top two times this season in 200-yard butterfly at 1:58.86 and 2:02.16, respectively.
"The freshmen might be a little nervous at first, but once they get the first swim [of the] morning under their belts, it will feel no different than any of the other races they have swum before," Shields said.
Some events that slipped through Tufts' fingers last season might be within reach this time around. Sophomore Chris Vorlicek placed second in the 400-yard individual medley at last year's championships, behind graduated Williams swimmer Chris Millen. Junior diver Rob Matera, who has placed first in all but three diving events this season, came in fourth and second in the 1- and 3-meter dives at the 2008 NESCACs.
The Jumbos also placed fifth in the 400-yard freestyle relay and the 400- and 200-yard medley relays last year. Tufts looks to benefit from its especially strong relay teams this season, which lead the conference in the 200-yard freestyle and the 200-yard medley relays and have posted the second-fastest times in the two other relays -- the 400-yard freestyle and the 800-yard freestyle.
"Relays are especially important because they are worth double the points of the individual events," Shields said. "Also, both our A and B relays can score points. If we can place high in all the relays, both A and B, we will definitely be right where we want to be throughout the weekend."
"Every event is an event to watch," senior quad-captain Ben Moskowitz added. "Each race that we have a Tufts swimmer in the pool will be the most exciting race that we can see."
Since their last official competition at the MIT/Middlebury Invitational on the weekend of Feb. 6, the Jumbos have been tapering and mentally preparing for the win they've had their eyes on since December. After the lengthy layoff, the Jumbos are ready to get back in the pool and post their best times of the season.
"We have been getting ready for NESCACs for the entire season," Moskowitz said. "Swimming fast is going to be something that we deserve."
"Everyone is ready to go," senior quad-captain James Longhurst added. "We aren't worrying about times or how we are going to place. We are just going to go out there and swim as fast as we possibly can. That's all it takes."
