Over the weekend Tufts competed in a two-day Invitational held at Middlebury College, competing against the host and NESCAC rival Williams College, among other New England schools.Although the meet was not scored, it still gave all three teams the opportunity to size up their opponents, and it gave swimmers who will not be swimming at the NESCAC Championships more opportunities to swim in big races while those on the NESCAC roster were given a less grueling schedule.
“The beauty of this meet is that it's a great benchmark," senior tri-captain Cam Simko said. "[It's a] confidence boost for the rest of the team.”
The nature and timing of the meet meant that there was a drastic change in the relay lineups. The relay A team made up of first-yearsBrian Honicky and ChrisSimotas, sophomoreHazen Breen and junior David Amirkhanashvili came a very close third behind the Middlebury A and Williams A relays, improving their seed time of 1:31.50 to 1:27.11.
Honicky performed extremely well at the meet, shaving off nearly eight seconds from his personal best to record a 1:58.30, 200-yard individual medley race that won him second place, under a second behind Williams’ Colin Hogan.
“The 200-yard back, while not my best time of the season, was strategically my best swim,” Bowen said. “Often I’ll either go out too hard and not be able to finish my race quickly, or I’ll start my race too slow to have a good time. As we approach NESCAC Championships, it’s important to learn how to most effectively swim my races.”
Simotas and Amirkhanashvili also stood out in the 50-yard freestyle, both improving upon their personal bests and coming fourth and fifth in the race, respectively.
“Every single one of our men who was shaved and tapered achieved a personal best in at least one of their races, with many of them getting multiple personal bests,” Coach Adam Hoyt said . “Getting that kind of a result at a meet like this is a great indicator of the potential of the rest of our team and their performance.”
Junior Russell Weeks was one of those to achieve a new personal best, taking a full 12 seconds off of his previous best in the 400-yard individual medley. Amirkhanashvili and first-year David Nason both broke their own records in the 100-yard fly. Sophomore Kai McGuire improved upon his 200-yard freestyle by five seconds. The list of personal bests and impressive performances recorded by the Jumbos from the meet is seemingly endless.
Although the three captains and the usual roster of high performers were less prevalent at this meet, their presence and support was greatly important, as was the bolstering effect of seeing their teammates succeed.
“The meet was a huge inspiration for the guys who are going to NESCACs,” senior tri-captain Harry Wood said. "We saw how fast our teammates went who tapered, which definitely pumped us up to finish out the year strong. It also helped confirm what events everybody would be doing and gave everybody one last time to practice their races in a meet scenario.”
Another relay team that performed very well was the 400-yard medley team was comprised of Nason, first-year James Wu, sophomore Jacob Siegelbaum and junior Michael DeCortin. The team came second in its race, just managing to deprive the Williams A team of a second place finish.
The diving competition saw junior Matt Rohrer sweep the board with a pair of wins that far exceeded his personal bests. In the three-meter dive, Rohrer scored 463 points and exceeded his seed score of 365.85 by nearly 100 points. In the one-meter dive Rohrer improved upon his seed score of 330.90 to come away with a huge 507.05 points. Sophomore Aaron Idelson also performed well in the one-meter dive, scoring 453.80 to improve upon his previous personal best of 292.80.
Overall the meet showed incredible promise for the Jumbos as they prepare for the NESCAC Championships. The team's all-around solid performance indicates just how good the Jumbos can be when they’ve shaved and tapered and at their peak performance.
“I think the performances reflected a full year of work,” Hoyt said.
The 24 NESCAC swimmers will begin their rest period on Thursday and look ahead to the Championships held at Williams College Feb. 19-21.
“The beauty of this meet is that it's a great benchmark," senior tri-captain Cam Simko said. "[It's a] confidence boost for the rest of the team.”
The nature and timing of the meet meant that there was a drastic change in the relay lineups. The relay A team made up of first-yearsBrian Honicky and ChrisSimotas, sophomoreHazen Breen and junior David Amirkhanashvili came a very close third behind the Middlebury A and Williams A relays, improving their seed time of 1:31.50 to 1:27.11.
Honicky performed extremely well at the meet, shaving off nearly eight seconds from his personal best to record a 1:58.30, 200-yard individual medley race that won him second place, under a second behind Williams’ Colin Hogan.
“From the start there was great energy on the pool deck and it was a great feeling seeing people's hard work pay off with a ton of lifetime best and season best times,” Honicky said. “When people weren't swimming, they were up and cheering for their teammates, but when it was time to get up and race, we showed that we were prepared mentally and physically.”
First-year Kingsley Bowen brought home a pair of wins for the team, one in the 100-yard fly and another in the 200-yard backstroke. His fly time of 50.95 was a significant improvement upon 51.71, his previous personal best.“The 200-yard back, while not my best time of the season, was strategically my best swim,” Bowen said. “Often I’ll either go out too hard and not be able to finish my race quickly, or I’ll start my race too slow to have a good time. As we approach NESCAC Championships, it’s important to learn how to most effectively swim my races.”
Simotas and Amirkhanashvili also stood out in the 50-yard freestyle, both improving upon their personal bests and coming fourth and fifth in the race, respectively.
“Every single one of our men who was shaved and tapered achieved a personal best in at least one of their races, with many of them getting multiple personal bests,” Coach Adam Hoyt said . “Getting that kind of a result at a meet like this is a great indicator of the potential of the rest of our team and their performance.”
Junior Russell Weeks was one of those to achieve a new personal best, taking a full 12 seconds off of his previous best in the 400-yard individual medley. Amirkhanashvili and first-year David Nason both broke their own records in the 100-yard fly. Sophomore Kai McGuire improved upon his 200-yard freestyle by five seconds. The list of personal bests and impressive performances recorded by the Jumbos from the meet is seemingly endless.
Although the three captains and the usual roster of high performers were less prevalent at this meet, their presence and support was greatly important, as was the bolstering effect of seeing their teammates succeed.
“The meet was a huge inspiration for the guys who are going to NESCACs,” senior tri-captain Harry Wood said. "We saw how fast our teammates went who tapered, which definitely pumped us up to finish out the year strong. It also helped confirm what events everybody would be doing and gave everybody one last time to practice their races in a meet scenario.”
Another relay team that performed very well was the 400-yard medley team was comprised of Nason, first-year James Wu, sophomore Jacob Siegelbaum and junior Michael DeCortin. The team came second in its race, just managing to deprive the Williams A team of a second place finish.
The diving competition saw junior Matt Rohrer sweep the board with a pair of wins that far exceeded his personal bests. In the three-meter dive, Rohrer scored 463 points and exceeded his seed score of 365.85 by nearly 100 points. In the one-meter dive Rohrer improved upon his seed score of 330.90 to come away with a huge 507.05 points. Sophomore Aaron Idelson also performed well in the one-meter dive, scoring 453.80 to improve upon his previous personal best of 292.80.
"I’m throwing a few new dives this semester, and to be able to do them decently well this close to NESCACs is a great feeling," Rohrer said. "Going into the postseason, the divers all want to just practice and master the dives we will be competing at NESCACs, Zones, and, hopefully, NCAAs."
Overall the meet showed incredible promise for the Jumbos as they prepare for the NESCAC Championships. The team's all-around solid performance indicates just how good the Jumbos can be when they’ve shaved and tapered and at their peak performance.
“I think the performances reflected a full year of work,” Hoyt said.
The 24 NESCAC swimmers will begin their rest period on Thursday and look ahead to the Championships held at Williams College Feb. 19-21.
