After opening its season with three conference victories, the men's swimming and diving team hopes to keep the win train rolling today and tomorrow at the MIT Invitational.
The invitational — which features NESCAC schools Bowdoin and Colby in addition to MIT, NYU, Wheaton College and members of the Harvard women's team — begins tonight at 6:30 p.m., continues tomorrow at 10 a.m. and will conclude later in the evening with a 5:30 p.m. session.
Tufts has excelled at the MIT Invitational in recent years, placing second in 2009 and 2007 and third in 2008. While they realize that there is some tough competition and that winning may be a long shot, the Jumbos this weekend hope to make a strong statement.
"The goal of the weekend is to show the other teams at the invitational — MIT, NYU, some of the best Div. III swimming schools in the country — what Tufts swimming is all about," senior quad−captain Brian Canter said.
MIT, which in March finished eighth at the Div. III National Championships, has been dominant at its invitational in recent years. The Engineers won 17 of 20 events at last year's event and are in search of a fourth consecutive first−place finish.
MIT has kept up its stellar swims this season as well, dominating Bowdoin and Babson on Nov. 20 by scores of 217−77 and 226−60, respectively. Tufts, which finished tied for 18th at the NCAAs, got a taste of what the MIT squad has to offer on Nov. 6 at the Batterman Relays at Wheaton, where the Engineers won eight out of nine men's races and finished one−two with Tufts in five events.
Several Tufts swimmers saw success at the MIT Invitational in 2009. The team of then−juniors Andrew Altman, Gordy Jenkins and David Meyer and then−sophomore Owen Rood finished second in the 200−yard freestyle relay and third in the 400−yard freestyle relay, and this year will race together in the same two events.
Altman, Jenkins and Rood also placed in the top 10 out of 57 competitors in the 50−yard freestyle. Rood teamed up with then−sophomore EJ Testa and two seniors to come in second in the 200−yard medley relay and third in the 400−yard medley relay.
Rood and Testa his year will join senior quad−captains Jenkins and Michael Del Moro, who is also a news editor for the Daily, in the 200−yard medley. They will also race with Del Moro and senior Zed Debbaut in the 400−yard medley.
Senior Trevor Stack also had a strong performance in 2009, placing third out of 10 in both the 1−meter and 3−meter diving events.
While the Jumbos certainly have some star swimmers, they believe their success has and will continue to come from the collective spirit and effort of all 46 team members.
"The whole big−team atmosphere is kind of overpowering and intimidating for other teams when they see just how big we are," Jenkins said. "Especially on Saturday night when everyone's tired, when they see us all getting loud and together for a big−team, ‘Big Brown' warm−up, it's definitely to our advantage."
Jenkins added that, though three−session meets are exhausting for everyone, having such a large team allows people to get a bit more rest than they otherwise would.
"We have the liberty to put people in relays, then give them rest in individual events, and so on, so that's going to be a huge advantage," he said.
Still, a rest from racing is no excuse for a lapse in focus.
"It's really important in these types of meets, which are very long, to keep up the intensity in and out of the pool," Canter said. "That means putting forth your best effort in each race, and also standing up on deck and cheering on your teammates, keeping that energy going throughout the course of the long weekend. It can be draining and it can be tiring, but you have to fight through those tough moments and keep persevering."
