MIDDLETOWN, CT - Tufts junior Johann Schmidt (Nanuet, NY) won the three-meter diving title to lead the Jumbo men's swimming & diving team's fourth-place finish at the 2013 NESCAC Championships over the weekend at Wesleyan.
Head coach Adam Hoyt's Jumbos compiled 1,080 points during the three-day event, just behind third-place Connecticut College's 1,098 score. Williams College won the meet at 1,936.5 points with Amherst as the runner-up at 1,824.5 points.
Schmidt's three-meter win was the fifth conference title of his career. He won in convincing fashion, compiling a score of 570.85 for a victory margin of more than 45 points. Schmidt had also won the NESCAC titles in one- and three-meter diving during both his freshman and sophomore seasons.
On the opening day of the meet Friday, Schmidt was edged by Amherst's Colin White for the one-meter diving title. Schmidt and White had finished first and second respectively in the NESCAC diving events for the previous two seasons (2011 & 2012). On Friday however, White's 542 score overcame Schmidt's 533.35 in the one-meter final to earn him his first conference title. Schmidt's runner-up finish was the second-best individual score of the meet for Tufts.
Schmidt was named Diver of the Meet, while Tufts' Brad Snodgrass got his third straight Diving Coach of the Year honor. The Jumbo team swam five NCAA national B times and recorded two school records at the meet overall.
On Sunday, freshman Michael Winget (Shelburne, VT) broke the seven-year old school record in the 200 backstroke with a 1:49.96 time in the 200 backstroke. He placed third at the meet with the NCAA B qualifier time, which broke Jon Godsey's 1:50.89 record. Junior Kyle Savidge (South Windsor, CT) was right behind Winget in the 200 back with a 1:51.01 time for fourth place and another NCAA B qualifier.
Also on Sunday, freshman Anthony DeBenedetto (Hopkinton, MA) posted a school record and NCAA B time in the 200 butterfly. His 1:51.08 best time which improved upon his own school record came in the preliminaries, while he placed sixth in the final with a 1:52.37 mark.
On Saturday, Tufts recorded three NCAA B times. Winget did so with his sixth-place finish in the 100 backstroke, touching in a time of 50.81 seconds that qualifies as a national B cut and narrowly missed the Tufts record. Junior Christian Jones (Lewisville, NC) swam 4:07.16 in the 400 individual medley which was also a B qualifier on Saturday.
In the 200 medley relay which led off Saturday, the combination of Winget, junior Andrew Turk (Westlake Village, CA), junior Eric Douglas (Southbury, CT), and sophomore John Devine (Oxford, MA) placed fifth with a 1:32.90 NCAA B time. That highlighted a good weekend of relay swimming by the Jumbos.
In Saturday's final event, the Jumbo foursome of junior Drew Berman (Miami, FL), Winget, Devine, and freshman Cam Simko (Summit, NJ) took fourth in the 800 freestyle relay at 6:56.78. The 400 freestyle relay foursome of Douglas, junior Austin Wood (Fort Washington, PA), Berman, and Devine were also fourth in the league on Sunday (3:06.97).
Two Tufts relays had fifth-place efforts on Friday. The 200 freestyle foursome of Devine, freshman Harry Wood (Fort Washington, PA), Turk, and Austin Wood timed 1:25.34 for fifth. Turk and Austin Wood then swam the second and anchor legs respectively in the 400 medley relay joined by Winget leading off and DeBenedetto third for a 3:26.34 finish that was fifth.
Winget also recorded an individual fifth place with his time of 23.96 seconds in the 50 backstroke on Friday. Simko swam a fifth-place time (1:42.62) in the 200 freestyle on Saturday.
Jumbos who recorded NCAA B qualifying times will await the announcement of the NCAA Championships field. Schmidt and any Tufts swimmers who qualify for the national meet will be in action March 20-23 in Texas.
Results
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