The men's swimming and diving team delivered a strong performance at the MIT Invitational on Friday and Saturday, placing fourth out of seven squads. Almost every member of the team swam a personal or season−best, ending the fall semester portion of the season on a high note.
"I thought it was fantastic. It's a different meet than what we were used to during the year," senior co−captain Owen Rood said. "Because it's over three sessions you have to get ready and perform three separate times, and it changes the dynamic. It's really just a test for us at this point in the season."
Rood teamed up with freshman Mike Napolitano and sophomores Austin Wood and Kyle Savidge for the 800−yard freestyle relay, finishing with a time of 7:10.11, the fastest in the NESCAC so far this season. Savidge had an impressive showing in the 1,650−yard freestyle as well, finishing in 16:52.57, while Rood posted the conference's second−best time in the 100−yard freestyle this season, finishing in 47.56.
Rood also finished fifth at MIT in the 50−yard freestyle in a season−best 21.41 seconds, which puts him second in the NESCAC this year, and touched the wall in 47.56 seconds in the 100−yard freestyle, another strong performance.
The 200−yard freestyle relay team started the meet for the Jumbos with freshmen Will Parker and John Devine, as well as Wood and Rood, finishing fourth in 1:25.87. Savidge finished with a season−best and team−leading 4:54.83 in the 500−yard freestyle, good for ninth place overall.
Sophomore Drew Berman had the best individual performance for the team in the 200−yard individual medley, finishing in an impressive 2:00.70. Right behind him was classmate Christian Jones, sixth−tenths of a second back at 2:01.35.
Jones and senior Lou Tamposi had strong swims in the 400−yard individual medley, finishing in 4:20.59 and 4:24.19, respectively. Devine and senior E.J. Testa notched fast 100−meter butterfly times, touching nearly simultaneously at 53.86 and 53.88 seconds, respectively.
Wood had the best time on the team in the 200−yard freestyle finishing in 1:47.05, putting him third in the NESCAC to date.
Rood and fellow senior co−captain Joe McLoughlin showed off their versatility with impressive swims in the 100−meter breaststroke. Rood's 1:00.73 is good for second in the NESCAC this year while McLoughlin's 1:02.85 is good for ninth in the conference. Savidge finished eighth in the 100 backstroke with a 53.84, placing him fifth in the NESCAC, despite a little hiccup along the way.
"I felt like it was a great ending for the team," Wood said. "I know that in one of Savidge's races his goggles came off but he still motored through. To have your goggles come off and stick with it is really impressive."
In the final event of the meet, Devine, Berman, Wood and Rood teamed up in the 400−yard freestyle relay for an impressive fourth−place finish in 3:12.30, the fastest time in the NESCAC this year. Tufts placed fourth as a team at MIT, accumulating 490.5 points. Host MIT led the way with 1,397.5 points.
As for their plans going forward, the Jumbos intend to work through the exam period and winter vacation in order to improve further on this weekend's showing.
"We have optional training through finals so that people can stay on top of their work but still keep up their fitness," Wood said. "We're primarily focused on our training trip and staying in shape over the next two weeks so we can grind out training when we get to Florida, because those are some of the most productive weeks and it's when our season really kicks into high gear."
When the Jumbos return home from Florida, their season will pick back up on Jan. 14, as they take on conference foes Williams and Wesleyan in a tri−meet in Middletown, Conn.
