BRUNSWICK, ME (February 9, 2023) – The Tufts University women's swimming & diving team had a strong start to the 2023 NESCAC Championships tonight as the Jumbos won the 800 freestyle relay for the second straight year.
In the only event of the first day of the conference championship meet hosted by Bowdoin College, the Jumbo foursome of
Katelin Isakoff,
Chloe Deveney,
Lily Klinginsmith and
Claire Brennan combined on a 7:20.18 time. The Jumbos were well ahead of second-place Williams College (7:27.67).
Tufts and Williams were close through the first two legs before Klinginsmith opened up a lead with a 1:49.41 time for the the third 200-freestyle leg. Then Brennan, the 200 free national champion a year ago, added to the margin of victory with her 1:48.31 split in the anchor role. Isakoff and Brennan were part of Tufts' winning 800 free relay for the second straight year.
Tufts was the top seed in tonight's event with a 7:24.75 time during the 2022-23 season, then lowered it by more than four seconds in the final to a time that was a Bowdoin pool record and was also well under the NCAA 'B' mark of 7:39.30.
The Jumbos also won the second heat of the race featuring the top B relays. Tufts'
Madeleine Dunn,
Cierra McCarty,
Jillian Cudney and
Sahar Mumtaz timed 7:32.52 for 12th place overall and an NCAA 'B' cut. Mumtaz came back to edge Williams in the anchor leg, with the Ephs posting a 7:32.78 time.
The two Jumbo foursomes scored 90 points to give Tufts a lead over Williams, who totaled 78. Amherst is third with a 74 score.
Tufts is the defending champion in the meet, which runs through Sunday. Friday will feature the 200 freestyle relay, 50 breaststroke, 50 butterfly, 500 freestyle, 50 backstroke, 200 individual medley, 50 freestyle, 400 medley relay and one-meter diving. The preliminaries begin at 10 AM followed by the finals at 6 PM.
--JUMBOS--
