While the men did not have the same fortune as the women, facing a larger, deeper Williams squad, they have worked hard this season and have shown they can prevail against tough competition, beating MIT as the pre-meet underdog this past Saturday.
Women
"It's always sweet to beat Williams. But to take down their [impressive home pool winning streak] record is even sweeter," explained co-captain Piper Pettersen '07. After what she labeled a "team-wide effort," the Jeffs returned to Amherst feeling pretty good about themselves and headed to Puerto Rico the next day motivated to work even harder for the NESCAC title.
Co-captain Margaret Ramsey '07 called the Williams meet a turning point. "I was so proud to see so many girls win close races," she said. "You could tell that everyone was totally invested in working their hardest and I think that's a mindset that has been developing in practices all season."
The women did not let that mindset waver as they traveled to Puerto Rico for an intense week and a half of training: two rigorous practices each day, with a little beach time mixed in here and there. The Amherst women took easy back-to-back victories over Hamilton College and Union College right after the Puerto Rico trip, and continued to post personal bests as they beat MIT this past weekend 136-98, surrendering only one event to the Engineers. Ramsey pointed to fellow seniors Jasmina Cheung-Lau and Lisa Rubinger as swimming particular well in their final season and Kara MacLaverty '09 as "coming into her own" and winning races.
With seven solid victories in the bag, the women are looking ahead to NESCACs. "I am very excited to see how fast people will swim once they're rested a bit," posited Ramsey. Middlebury College's surprise victory over Williams this past weekend should make things interesting in the NESCAC's three-way battle for first. Nevertheless, Williams and Middlebury have both fallen in the Jeffs' wake during the regular season.
Men
With tough losses to large and deep Middlebury and Williams teams behind them, things are looking up for the Amherst men. Co-captain Ethan Treat '07 explained, "We were able to put in a lot of hard training over Interterm that may have tired us all out, but it definitely has prepared us for the rest of the season." Future banker and co-captain John Ancona '07 used an economic analogy to describe the team's month of intense training, explaining that workouts are like putting money in the bank, accumulating interest throughout the season, but really cashing in at NESCACs.
The men have already been accumulating interest in the form of convincing wins against Hamilton and Union and the most recent surprise victory over a strong MIT squad, 129-107.
"I can't point to a bad race that anyone had at that meet," said Ancona of the seniors' final home meet. Treat, the only Amherst swimmer to win an event at Williams, continued to post solid times in his signature events, the 200-yard IM and 200-yard butterfly. Andrew Maslan '08 and Christian Witzke '09 also grabbed wins for the Jeffs, while Joe Scala '09 and first-year Tad Homchick came up big for the Jeffs.
Most notable, however, has been the Jeffs' incredible performances on the diving board. Connor Boyd '08 has qualified for Nationals in two events and Adam Bookman '08 is also having the season of his life. Boyd attributes his recent success to experience and added, "These last two meets-it sort of clicked."
But for now, "everyone is focused on NESCACs," said Ancona. "It's a meet where everyone shines," Ancona explained, pointing to the fact that Amherst traditionally tapers better than its rivals. Looking ahead, Treat posited, "We need to keep ourselves healthy and focused. If we can maintain our steady, hard training, I have no doubt that we will have a strong NESCAC meet."