MEDFORD - Jumbos posted the best marks in 14 of the 16 events as the Tufts women's swimming and diving team opened the new year with a 180.5-109.5 win over Coast Guard Academy at Hamilton Pool on Saturday.
Returning national qualifier Colleen Doolan had two of the wins and was also part of relay victory. The Tufts freshman class debuted strongly, providing eight of the individual wins as well as making key relay contributions.
Jackie Crater, in her collegiate debut, broke the Hamilton Pool women's 200 backstroke record with a 2:07.36 victory today. She also was first in the 100 backstroke with a time of 59.64 seconds. Freshman diver Amber Chong had a pair of wins in her first college competition as well. She was first in the one-meter event with a 207.60 score and also won the three-meter at 213.15 points.
Doolan won the 200 butterfly with a 2:09.38 and later finished first in the 100 freestyle at 55.01 seconds. She also anchored the 200 freestyle relay foursome which closed the meet with a time of 1:41.37, raced as an exhibition with Tufts already leading the team scoring handily. She was joined by freshman Abby Claus, senior tri-captain Jess Lee and freshman Sasha Fong.
The Jumbos had opened the meet with the foursome of sophomore Grace Goetcheus, senior tri-captain Anna Kimura, Fong and Claus recording a 4:00.22 time to win the 400 medley relay. Tufts took the top three spots in the event.
In addition to their roles with the 400 medley relay, Goetcheus posted a 2:14.99 finish for the best time in the 200 individual medley. She also had a pair of seconds in the backstrokes, timing 59.93 in the 100 and 2:12.33 in the 200. Kimura had a 2:28.76 to win the 200 breaststroke by the closest of margins over freshman Lily Kurtz, who touched in 2:28.77.
Claus added an exhibition victory in the 100 butterfly with a 58.86 time to her contributions in both relay wins. Kurtz and classmate Sook-Hee Evans swam to wins in the 100 breaststroke (1:08.88) and the 500 freestyle (5:15.67), respectively. Lee won the 50 sprint in 25.75 to go with her share of the 200 free relay win. Additionally, Claus was second in the 200 free (1:58.16) and Evans was the runner-up in the 1,000 free (10:46.07). Fong had second-best times in the 50 free (25.77) and 100 fly (59.50).
Coast Guard won the first two individual events. Freshman Emily Benson was first in the 1,000 freestyle with a 10:42.26 time, followed by junior Kristen Young's win in the 200 freestyle (1:57.31). The Bears fell to a 1-3 record with the loss.
The Jumbos barely have time to savor the season-opening win as they hop on the bus tomorrow morning and head to Vermont for a dual meet at Middlebury College starting at 1 p.m. The Bears are off until competing in the Connecticut Cup at Wesleyan on December 2.
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