The men's swimming and diving team on Friday and Saturday asserted itself as a NESCAC powerhouse as it opened up its season, first blowing away Bates at a dual−meet and then trouncing Conn. College and Middlebury at a tri−meet.
Tufts hosted Bates at Hamilton Pool on Friday night and won 14 out of 16 events to cruise to a 216.5−81.5 victory. The Jumbos won 10 individual events, two diving events and two relays, while Bates won only the 100−yard backstroke and the 200−yard individual medley.
In both the 1,000 freestyle and the 200 butterfly, Tufts swimmers occupied the top three spots. Junior Joe McLoughlin took first place in the 1,000 free, while junior Alex Strittmatter won the 200 butterfly.
Senior Andrew Altman had a stellar performance, winning the 50−yard freestyle and the 200−yard backstroke and teaming up with senior quad−captains Michael del Moro and Joe Lessard and senior David Meyer to win the 400−yard freestyle relay. Del Moro is also a news editor for the Daily.
Freshman Johan Schmidt and senior Trevor Stack finished first and second, respectively, in both the one−meter and three−meter diving events.
"We were expecting to win, so it was more about just getting out there for the first time and racing, and not really worrying about the score as much as clicking and winning together for the first time as a team," senior quad−captain Gordy Jenkins said.
The Jumbos on Saturday took on conference opponents Conn. College and Middlebury at Conn. College, beating them 174.5−124.5 and 209−90, respectively.
Conn. College notched nine first−place finishes while Tufts only had six, but the Jumbos gained the edge by consistently placing within the top four.
Altman, Meyer and Jenkins joined forces with junior Owen Rood to win the 200−meter freestyle relay. Rood also had a strong individual performance, winning the 50−meter freestyle.
Among the victors for the Jumbos were senior Zed Debbaut in the 100 breaststroke and sophomore Brian Marko in the 200 butterfly. Tufts' other first−place finisher was Schmidt, who again finished one−two with Stack in the one−meter and three−meter dives.
Several Jumbos swam to second−place results — Lessard did it twice, and freshman Andrew Berman and junior EJ Testa each did it once. Testa, Debbaut, Jenkins and freshman Eric Douglas finished second in the 200 medley relay.
Strittmatter, Altman and Rood came in second through fourth in the 200 freestyle.
So far, Tufts' swimmers have shown that they have both the physical ability and the desire necessary to attain success.
"We're in good shape," Jenkins said. "A lot of our guys got in the water early on in September, have been swimming all summer and have been hitting the weights real hard. That's paid off because you can tell that we're finishing races that other teams aren't because we've got that wind."
"Racing down to the finish is probably the best thing that we've been doing so far," junior Drew Madore said. "When it's close right up to the end, when it's neck−and−neck or even when our guy is a little bit behind, we've been pushing and pushing for those last 10 yards to win the race."
Madore also explained that on this team, each swimmer's job is not done once he finishes his own race.
"We always do a great job of cheering each other on," he said. "Even when everyone is exhausted from their own swims, they're not sitting on the bench — they're still up on the side of the pool, cheering on the people who are swimming."
The Jumbos' next big challenge will be the Dec. 3−4 MIT Invitational, which will feature some of the best teams from the New England area. Tufts last year placed second out of seven teams at the meet.
"We're going to have a lot of really good competition there — top nationally ranked teams," Jenkins said. "It's going to be a lot of fun, and it will show who we are on a bigger scale."
