After rewriting the record books in its best season in years, the women's swimming and diving team can look back on this season as one for the ages.
With three Jumbos competing at the NCAA Div. III meet last weekend and earning 30th place as a team, Tufts solidified itself as one of the top competitors in the New England region after previously posting a third-place finish in the stacked NESCAC.
The Jumbos went 8-1 in head-to-head competition on the season, including key wins over conference rivals Middlebury and Conn. College, two teams that regularly challenge Tufts for the third-place spot in the NESCAC behind powerhouses Williams and Amherst, in the first meet of the season. When it came to the Feb. 20 championships at Bowdoin, however, it was all Jumbos in the pool.
At the meet, Tufts set records in 11 events, and the Jumbos posted one conference title, five second-place finishes and 10 NCAA-qualifying times to earn their best finish in the nine-year history of the women's NESCAC event.
"I think we had a fabulous season," coach Nancy Bigelow said. "We were 8-1, which is a number we haven't seen in a long time. It's like we won the NESCAC championship because Amherst and Williams aren't going anywhere. It was an outstanding season, certainly something you can't complain about at all. Once again, swimming is so different from a game played in 20 minutes. Williams is such a far superior team that there's no way we could beat them."
"The team goals we set for ourselves were that we wanted to beat Conn. and Middlebury and finish third in NESCACs and have an 8-1 season," senior tri-captain Katie Swett added. "We even accomplished the little things, like cheering for each other all the time."
Sophomore Megan Kono singlehandedly stampeded through the Tufts record books in the distance freestyle events, blowing away the competition in the 1,650-yard freestyle en route to a NESCAC meet record time of 17:11.91. Additionally, Swett had the meet of her life, posting two NCAA B-cuts and setting the all-time Jumbo mark in the 200-yard breaststroke.
Kono then went on a month later to place 17th in the mile swim, one spot away from honorable mention All-American honors. Swett came up a half-second short of the Tufts record in her signature event, the 400-yard IM, taking 13th at Nationals.
Additionally, the NESCAC meet saw the emergence of numerous star freshmen on the Tufts roster, whose experience will certainly help tremendously in years to come. First-year Courtney Adams was part of four record-breaking swims at Bowdoin, setting the new Tufts record in the 100-yard backstroke (1:00.18) as well as taking part in the 400-yard medley relay, the 200-yard freestyle relay and the 800-yard freestyle relay.
Classmate Valerie Eacret, who helped comprise the record-setting 400 medley, the 400-yard freestyle relay and the 800-yard freestyle relay at the NESCAC meet, set the new Tufts record in both the 50- and 100-yard butterfly events over the course of the season, while freshman Katie Russell finished the 1,000-yard freestyle in 10:30.21 to capture third place and yet another Jumbo record.
Making up nearly half of the Jumbos' gigantic roster, the freshmen steadily put up points throughout the season, all of which were instrumental in propelling Tufts to its best regular-season record in over 10 years. First-years Annie Doisneau and Paulina Ziolek also had an outstanding NESCAC meet, taking part in the 200-yard freestyle relay along with Adams and sophomore Maureen O'Neill to shatter the previous Jumbo mark, while Ziolek also was part of the 400 free relay.
The incoming class set the tone early in Tufts' first meet against Conn. College and Middlebury, as four freshmen either finished first or second in individual events. Depth from a strong freshman class coupled with veteran leadership was a theme that remained constant over the course of the season.
Yet the accolades for the Jumbos were not restricted to the swimmers, as a quartet of divers enjoyed a steady flow of success this year. Junior Lindsay Gardel continued the tradition of All-American Tufts diving, earning honors for the second consecutive year at the NCAA meet with a personal-best fifth in the 1-meter competition last Friday. At the NESCAC meet, additionally, Gardel finished second in both the 1- and 3-meter dives.
Joining Gardel at the meet were freshman Rachel Lew and junior Jamie Ryan who, in addition to junior Kelsey Bell, formed the diving corps that helped solidify many of the dual meet victories that Tufts enjoyed this year.
A large part of the success can be attributed to the exceptional camaraderie the Jumbos demonstrated on and off the pool deck. Regularly striving to be the "loudest team" during any given meet, Bigelow's squad came together in ways she has never seen before.
"Coming together was definitely one of their team goals, and I think they work hard on being good teammates," she said. "It wasn't just the captains, it was just the whole senior class and a good junior class that took the time to step up and lead forward. They meshed and melded well. When one person didn't have strength in a certain swim, someone else stepped up."
And although a winter break training trip filled with two-a-day practices may seem daunting, the Jumbos used it as a catalyst, coming back from their Puerto Rico stint clearly stronger both mentally and physically, propelling them to their historic NESCAC finish.
"We've been building toward this for the past couple years, and we were all on the same page," Swett said. "We got everyone excited early and everyone knew where we wanted to go. A common purpose drew us together. We're a close group of friends together, even outside the pool."
While the Jumbos graduate numerous key swimmers, most notably Swett and fellow tri-captains Liz Frenette and Kayla Burke, Tufts has experienced juniors waiting in the wings to fill the void. The dive team will return all of its members, while the swim team figures to post another impressive season thanks to its freshmen. All told, while the 2008-09 season was one for the history books, next year should be even better.
"We're definitely going to miss these girls who are leaving because they set examples regarding both swimming fast and being good leaders," Bigelow said. "They're so enjoyable and such great kids. Even if we hadn't been 8-1, they're just great people."
