After the most successful season in its history, the women's swimming and diving team is looking to continue its outstanding successes this year, with five all-conference swimmers and one diver leading the way.
Last year, the team finished a best-ever third at the NESCAC Championships, where the Jumbos broke 11 school records. Tufts swimmers also won one individual conference title, had five runner-up performances and swam 10 NCAA qualifying times. The Jumbos are returning six of seven All-NESCAC members from last year's team: sophomores Courtney Adams, Annie Doisneau, Valerie Eacret and Katie Russell; junior Megan Kono; and senior diver Lindsay Gardel. The team only lost former senior tri-captain Katie Swett (LA '09).
"We did lose some seniors, and we have a bunch of juniors abroad right now, but we are hopefully going to bring the same intensity and competitiveness this season and have another successful season just like last year," senior tri-captain Lyndsey York said. Returning veteran players will be key to the squad's success — particularly since many of the experienced members have won conference or national honors.
Last year, Eacret led the Jumbos with All-Conference honors in three events, finishing second at NESCACs in the 50- and 100-meter butterfly, as well as swimming one leg of a third-place effort in the 800-meter freestyle relay. Adams, Doisneau and Kono were the other bronze-medal winning members of the 800 relay team, while Russell chipped in with a third-place finish in the 1000-meter freestyle.
In diving, All-American senior Lindsay Gardel will be looking to continue her successes from last year, when she finished in fifth place in the one-meter diving competition at the NCAA Div. III Championships.
One of the mainstays for the Jumbos is head coach Nancy Bigelow, who will be entering her 28th season at the helm and holds last year's title of NESCAC Coach of the Year. With the chance to exact revenge on teams like Williams — which decimated Tufts by a score of 207-93 last year — after winter break, Bigelow is keeping her players grounded and has kept a focus on the fundamentals for the upcoming season.
"We are always emphasizing the fundamentals: racing into the wall, finishing hard, challenging yourself and racing the people next to you," York said.
While the season looks promising, the Jumbos are missing many junior swimmers for the time being, including Kono, who is studying abroad this semester.
"The first half of the season is going to be tough because we have a lot of people abroad," Gardel said. "We will find out this weekend after our first meet how we stand in relation to the other teams."
With many key swimmers out of action, the Jumbos will be looking to the underclassmen to step up in their absence and keep the squad afloat in the four meets scheduled before winter break.
"We have a really talented freshman class, and our returning sophomores are really fast, so we are looking to them to step up, and this will really determine how our meets go," York said.
Tufts will have its challengers this year and will still be chasing the two teams that finished above it at the NESCAC Championships last year: Williams and Amherst. Also posing a threat in the conference will be Middlebury and Conn. College, the teams the Jumbos face in a tri-meet on Saturday. In last year's competition, Swett and Kono helped put Tufts over the top with wins in breaststroke and freestyle events, respectively. However, then-freshmen Eacret and Adams also came in with wins, displaying the depth that the squad holds against its competitors.
"Williams and Amherst are practically untouchable, but our main competition should come from Middlebury and Connecticut College," Gardel said.
With an exciting core of young talent and added experience, the Jumbos will look to build upon last year's momentum and record-breaking successes.
"Our team really has the potential to be strong this year," York said. "It's really exciting going forward with such a young group."
