While most classmates were busy preparing for finals, members of the women's swimming and diving team spent most of their weekend at the MIT Invitational competing against six other squads, including Div. I Harvard. Tufts placed fifth overall — a successful result, considering that the Jumbos were neither as prepared nor as rested as many of their opponents.
"Our times weren't the greatest this weekend," sophomore K.J. Kroetch said. "We definitely showed up to swim and did the best we could given the circumstances, but the stresses of school and being tired caught up to us a little."
In addition to fatigue, the Jumbos also had significantly less practice time leading up to the event than some of their competitors, who have been training as a team since the beginning of the semester. Such programs use the MIT Invitational to evaluate their swimmers for NCAA Nationals, whereas the Jumbos view it as an opportunity to showcase their skills against some of the best teams in the Northeast.
As has been the case throughout the fall semester portion of the team's season, freshmen provided some of the Jumbos' best performances. Mia Greenwald excelled in her two butterfly events, finishing fourth in both the 100− and 200−yard races, with times of 1:00.22 and 2:14.47, respectively. Sami Bloom was Tufts' most successful diver, placing third off the 1−meter board with a score of 221.80. She added a fourth−place effort off the 3−meter board that was scored at 245.95.
Although the Jumbos struggled to keep up in short−distance sprint events throughout the meet, they were up to the challenge in many of the relays. Three first−years — Jen Konick, Jenny Hu and Taylor Lentz — joined Greenwald in the 200−yard medley relay. The all−freshman team delivered a fifth−place finish in 1:52.62.
Tufts had two other top−five relay results, including the 400−yard medley and the 800−yard freestyle. Konick, Hu and Greenwald swam with junior Courtney Adams in the 400−yard event, coming in fifth at 4:07.78. Adams was also a part of the 800−yard freestyle team, along with sophomore Christine Garvey, junior Valerie Eacret and senior tri−captain Megan Kono, touching the wall in fifth at 8:10.22.
Garvey also added the best individual medley finish for the Jumbos, placing seventh in the 400−yard event at 4:52.15.
Senior Maureen O'Neill, who will graduate at the end of this semester, was competing for the last time in her Tufts career. O'Neill earned a 14th−place finish in the 50−yard freestyle and was a part of both the Jumbos' seventh−place 200−yard freestyle relay and eighth−place 400−yard medley relay teams.
Joining O'Neill in the 200−yard freestyle relay were Hu, Adams and junior Saheela Mehrotra, who swam the fastest leg of the relay. Mehrotra raced in eight total events and gave the Jumbos a strong boost in multiple relays, including the 200−yard freestyle, 400−yard freestyle, 800−yard freestyle, 200−yard medley and 400−yard medley.
O'Neill is extremely impressed with the team and looks back fondly upon her four years of swimming for Tufts.
"I couldn't have asked for a better team," O'Neill said. "Swimming for Tufts has really made me a better person, and it's very tough and very emotional for me to leave the team. But I'm definitely going to be there during the spring, cheering on the girls, and I'm looking forward to that."
The Jumbos will now get a full month to rest and practice before joining Wesleyan for a three−team NESCAC meet at Williams on Jan. 15. With a 1−2 record in conference dual−meets so far, Tufts will look to improve its times during next month's annual training trip to Florida.
"Most of the team is going on our training trip, and that's a great time for us to practice in a non−competitive environment," Kroetch said. "We're going to practice a lot of different things and get faster as a team to get ready for the spring semester."
The Jumbos' only remaining home meet of the 2010−11 season will come on Jan. 29 against Wheaton.
