MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – The No. 14 Tufts University men's swimming & diving team compiled five program-best times during opening-day action at the three-day NESCAC Championships on Friday at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut.
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| Noah Cagley was the team's top-finisher in the final of the 500 freestyle. |
The Jumbos currently sit in third place out of the 11 NESCAC teams with 542 points, trailing second-place Amherst College (547 points) by only a handful of points. Williams College holds a 96-point lead atop the standings with 643 points, while Connecticut College sits in fourth overall with 499.5 points.
Bowen was involved in the shattering of three program records, as he clocked a program-best time of 22.80 and recorded a second-place finish in the preliminaries of the 50-yard backstroke. He finished second overall in the final of the 50 backstroke (22.83, 28 points), while posting a program record of 48.69 in the 100 backstroke, which occurred when he served in a leadoff role during the final of the 400 medley relay.
Bowen, freshman Eric Shi, junior Zachary Wallace and freshman Roger Gu posted a program-best time of 3:19.49 in the final of the 400 medley relay, as the group finished second overall and collected 56 points.
Wallace leaped into the record books in individual-event action, as he posted a program record of 1:50.67 and finished third overall in the final of the 200 individual medley (27 points). The La Jolla, California, native performed his best in crunch time, as he shaved 0.98 seconds off his preliminary-round performance.
The Jumbos also compiled a record-breaking performance and placed third overall in the final of the 200 freestyle relay (1:22.02), with freshman Costa Camerano Spelta Rapini, Wallace, junior James McElduff and Gu leading the charge. The group earned 54 points and trailed the second-place team by only 0.26 seconds and the first-place squad by 0.67 seconds.
Rapini finished fourth overall with a time of 22.52 in the final of the 50 butterfly (26 points), as the program record in the event is 22.51. Rapini and Gu each registered a time of 20.93 in the final of the 50 freestyle, as the two swimmers' combined for 48 points and sat in a tie for fifth overall. Senior captain and diver Matt Rohrer claimed first-place honors with a mark of 515.60 in the final of the 1-meter diving event (32 points), while he also garnered first-place accolades in the preliminary round of the event (511.65).
Sophomore Noah Cagley was the Jumbos' first-place finisher during the final of the 500 freestyle (16 points), as he finished 11th overall with a time of 4:38.23. Sophomore Brandon Jinn also starred in the final of the 500 freestyle (4:39.03, 15 points), as he finished 12th overall and trimmed 2.52 seconds off his preliminary-round time. Sophomore Ross Wood (4:49.39, 11 points), junior Neil Spazzarini (4:41.55, seven points) and sophomore Adon Shapiro (4:45.17, three points) also contributed with strong performances in the final of the 500 freestyle.
Junior diver Aaron Idelson boasted a seventh-place effort during the final of the 1-meter diving event (363.40, 23 points), while chipping in with a fifth-place performance during the preliminaries of the event (365.40).
Senior captain Luca Guadagno was the sixth competitor to touch the wall in the final of the 200 IM (1:53.53, 24 points), while junior Lorenzo Lau grabbed ninth-place recognition in the event (1:54.09, 20 points). Junior Scott Simpson and Shi posted times of 1:55.44 and 1:56.26, respectively, during the finals of the 200 IM, combining for 12 additional points.
During the final of the 50 backstroke, junior Michael Brienza finished 11th overall (24.16, 16 points), while freshmen Ryan Luu and Timothy Gronet tallied times of 24.86 and 24.91, respectively. McElduff added a crucial 20 points to the Jumbos' score sheet during the final of the 50 butterfly, finishing ninth overall with a time of 22.67, while junior Chris Flynn and Luu combined for 15 points with times of 23.35 and 23.47, respectively.
Shi was the first Jumbo to hit the wall and placed 11th overall during the final of the 50 breaststroke (26.28, 16 points). The squad also received noteworthy performances from Simpson (26.64, 12 points), freshman Alex Burnam (27.12, nine points), senior Jasper Du (27.13, seven points) and freshman Matthew Manfre (27.76, four points) during the final of the 50 breaststroke on Friday night.
The Jumbos will compete in second-day action at the NESCAC Championships on Saturday in Middletown, Connecticut, with swimming trials starting at 10 a.m., diving preliminaries at 2 p.m. and the finals at 5:50 p.m.
Written by Trevor Wenners, Athletic Communications Intern
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