The women's swimming and diving team on Saturday had one of its biggest assets — camaraderie — on full display as the Jumbos defeated Wheaton, 175-109.
It was the last collegiate race in Hamilton Pool for the eight seniors on the team and they could not have asked for a better setting or result.
"The highlight of my four years of swimming at Tufts has definitely been the spirit and camaraderie we have as a team," senior Erica Zahka said. "On Saturday, the junior class did a great job of decorating the pool and making posters, and everyone was really supportive of [the] seniors and made it a great race for us."
Although honoring the seniors was certainly the main event, the underclassmen set the tone in the first event of the meet with a victory in the 400-yard medley relay.
Freshmen Jen Konick, Jenny Hu and Mia Greenwald left junior Courtney Adams — who swam the final, freestyle leg of the relay — with a modest gap to make up as she jumped into the pool. Adams was up to the challenge, propelling Tufts to a scintillating opening win.
"That first race was definitely the closest event of the day and Courtney swam an absolutely phenomenal 100-yard freestyle as the anchor of the relay," senior Meghan Lueders said. "It was a blast to watch, as she came from behind, outraced [Wheaton senior Steph Perkins], and touched the wall first for the win."
Senior tri-captain Megan Kono took it from there, winning three freestyle events in one of the best performances of her Tufts career, en route to NESCAC Player of the Week honors.
Kono nearly set a Hamilton Pool record in the 1000-yard event, with a time of 10:32.80. She went on to post a personal season-best 1:57.62 in the 200-yard race and rounded out the hat trick by completing the 500-yard swim in 5:10.62.
After Adams and Kono put the Jumbos ahead, the freshmen dominated the shorter events and dives to seal the victory. Hu, Greenwald and freshman Andrea Coniglio outpaced their competitors in the 50- and 100-yard breaststroke, butterfly and backstroke, respectively, while freshman Sami Bloom took first off both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving boards. Those eight victories put the Jumbos well on their way to victory.
"During the last events of the season, everyone has had some time to rest after the winter break trip and we're looking to get some of our best times as a warm-up to the championship meets," Lueders said.
With the win over Wheaton, the Jumbos ensured that their eight seniors would have a memorable last race in Hamilton Pool. Now, their focus will turn to finishing the season on the highest note possible.
The first of the championship meets comes this weekend at the Wheaton Invitational, where half of the Jumbos will compete for the last time this year. Their teammates will be busy preparing for the NESCAC Championships on Feb. 18-20 at Williams College, but will not miss the chance to offer their support from the deck.
"At the Wheaton Invitational, everyone kind of gets to choose what events they want to swim, whether it's the ones they normally swim or something different they want to try," Zahka said. "Then, [Coach Nancy Bigelow] is going to decide how to best set up the team so we can get the maximum number of points at Wheaton and at NESCACs."
"Even though only half of the girls are actually competing, the Wheaton Invite is still going to be very much an entire team event," Lueders added. "The rest of the team will be there cheering, as we have been all season."
Spirit and teamwork have been the cornerstones of the team's success throughout the year. As the team gets ready for its final laps of the season, the Jumbos are confident that they will have the support they need to finish strong.
