Boston College may have squeaked out the victory over Tufts, 206-170, at yesterday's dual meet at Hamilton pool, but the Jumbos came away with a sense of pride about their performance against the Div. I Eagles and their ability to create and maintain an absolutely electric atmosphere.
"The atmosphere was incredible," senior quad-captain Joe Lessard said. "In my four years here, it's probably the loudest I've ever seen our pool."
"We were so loud right out of the gates," senior quad-captain Gordy Jenkins added. "We got a pool record in the first event [200-yard medley relay] and then we just tried to keep it going as much as possible. It helped so much being at home and having our crowd. We didn't win, but I had so much fun and I know a lot of the other guys did too."
Jenkins, senior quad-captain Mike Del Moro, and juniors Owen Rood and E.J. Testa formed the record-setting medley team, and also largely carried the Jumbos in the individual events.
Jenkins won the 50-yard breaststroke; Del Moro, who is also a news editor for the Daily, won the 100-yard backstroke; Rood won both the 50- and 100-yard freestyles; and Testa won both the 50-yard butterfly and the 50-yard backstroke.
Jenkins, Rood and seniors David Meyer and Andrew Altman also won the final event of the day, the 200-yard freestyle relay.
"There were definitely some standout swims from a lot of people," Lessard said. "A lot of freshmen really stepped it up and tried to show what all the training has been doing for them, and we had some veterans just go for it — win races, and just touch someone out. It was a great meet all around."
Tufts has been bombarded with tough competition since returning from its two-week training trip to Florida, beginning with a tri-meet against NESCAC foes Wesleyan and Williams on Jan. 15 and continuing with dual meets against MIT and Boston College on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
No. 16 Tufts swam circles around Wesleyan, winning 224-63, but was edged out 175-123 by the host No. 8 Williams Ephs, who have won eight straight conference titles and whom the Jumbos have never defeated in a dual meet. They then fell 200-98 to Div. III powerhouse No. 6 MIT before Sunday's loss to BC.
At MIT the Jumbos took on the No. 6 Engineers, who on Dec. 4 won the MIT Invitational in which Tufts placed third. Del Moro was the only Tufts swimmer to win an event, placing first in the 100-yard backstroke. Freshman phenom Johann Schmidt and senior Trevor Stack dominated the diving portion of the meet, finishing No. 1 and No. 2 respectively in both the 1- and 3-meter events.
The Jumbos started and ended the day well. Testa, Jenkins, Rood and freshman Eric Douglas kicked things off with a second-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay, and Jenkins, Rood, Meyer and Altman came in second in the 200-yard freestyle relay to end the meet.
Jenkins and Rood swam individual second-place races in the 100-yard breaststroke and 200-yard freestyle, respectively, while freshman Christian Jones placed third in the 500-yard freestyle. Rood and Jones both swam season-best times.
MIT won 14 out of 15 swimming events, asserting its dominance as it did at the MIT Invitational, where the Engineers won 17 of 20 races.
The Jumbos received many strong performances at the Jan. 15 tri-meet as well. Testa had a great day all around, winning the 100-yard backstroke and the 100-yard butterfly and placing second in the 200-yard medley relay with teammates Rood, Del Moro and senior Zed Debbaut.
Tufts also saw victories from sophomore Brian Marko, who won the 200-yard butterfly, and Lessard, who won the 500-yard freestyle. Schmidt continued his success, receiving national qualifying marks to win the 1-meter and 3-meter events.
Second-place finishers included Del Moro in the 100-yard backstroke, Debbaut in the 100-yard breaststroke, junior Alex Strittmatter in the 100-yard butterfly and Jenkins in the 50-yard freestyle. The team of Jenkins, Rood, Altman and Meyer closed out the meet by coming in second in the 400-yard freestyle relay.
Still, Williams' nine first-place performances and four one-two-three finishes were enough to defeat both Tufts and Wesleyan, while the Jumbos came away with a split.
