Winning 11 of the meet's 15 events, the women's swimming and diving team beat Wheaton College 190-100 on Saturday to pick up its first win of the season. Despite losing their home pool to closure earlier this month, the Jumbos celebrated Senior Day at Wheaton's pool, honoring the 11 swimmers and divers of Tufts' senior class.
Coming off of tough losses to MIT and Wesleyan the weekend before, in which they were handicapped by multiple injuries and a drastically altered training routine as a result of Hamilton Pool's closure, the team bounced back this weekend to win its last regular season meet.
Nine Tufts swimmers and divers place first, including three seniors. The Jumbos got off to a strong start, winning first and second place in the 400-yard medley relay. Seniors Andrea Coniglio and Jenny Hu, along with freshman Cassidy Hubert and junior Samantha Sliwinski, comprised the winning relay team, which finished in 4:07.35.
Coniglio said she believes that the spirit of Senior Day boosted the team morale, allowing the swimmers to perform more successfully.
"The junior class, the coaches, our family and friends that came to support us made the meet feel so special for the senior class that it really did not matter that we did not have it at our pool," Coniglio said. "This atmosphere certainly played a role in my performances, and it probably did for other members of the team, especially the seniors."
Sliwinski went on to clinch two more victories for Tufts in the 50 and 100-yard freestyle, with times of 24.93 and 54.02. Completing Tufts' sweep of the individual freestyle events, sophomore Sarah Mahoney claimed the distance events for Tufts, winning both the 1000 and 500-yard freestyle, while Coniglio took first in the 200-yard freestyle.
Hu, coming off of injuries that kept her from swimming in her main events last weekend, won a second event for herself in the 50-yard breaststroke.
Rounding out Tufts' contingent of first-place finishers on Saturday was sophomore Maddie Golison, who won the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:18.34, and sophomore Kelsey McEvoy, who won the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:16.24.
Tufts' final two wins came in the diving events, in which the team swept for the fourth time this season. Senior Sami Bloom, who was resting last weekend due to an injured back, returned to the pool this weekend to win both the one and three-meter events.
Bloom said her return, and that of several other injured teammates, were crucial factors in the team's victory this weekend that will also allow the Jumbos to get back on track as they prepare for the Middlebury Invitational this coming weekend, and the NESCAC Championships at Williams in mid-February.
"This win is just the push that we need as we head into our championship season," Bloom said. "Some of the members of our team are gearing up for their championships at Middlebury Invite this weekend, and all of the team is getting pumped for them."
While this win signifies a turnaround in Tufts' season, finding success in the coming weeks will not be straightforward.
"We have done the training to perform well at the meet, but our training and performance will suffer if we're not getting enough rest," Coniglio said. "This has definitely been a challenge this semester with our practices being held either very early in the morning or late at night since we have to travel and do not have our home pool to train in."
Whether or not the Jumbos can carry the momentum from Wheaton will be put to the test this Friday and Saturday when Tufts takes to the pool at the Middlebury Invitational.
