Men
The Lord Jeffs headed half an hour down I-91 to face Springfield College at the Pride's senior day this past Saturday. In a friendly gesture, the congenial Springfield team gave the Amherst seniors flowers along with their own graduating swimmers. But the Jeffs did not return the favor in the pool, easily defeating the Pride in what should have been a close meet.
Head Coach Nick Nichols had predicted that the meet would be decided in the final relay-"a nail-biter" as co-captain John Ancona '07 termed it-but the determined Jeffs put the final nail on Springfield's coffin after only the second diving event. The Amherst men have certainly put the difficult loss to Middlebury College early in the season behind them and are showing vast improvement in times and a renewed competitive edge going into the final leg of the season. "It's amazing how much better everyone has gotten these last two meets," explained Ancona.
At Springfield, the Jeffs wavered little. Andrew Maslan '08 and Mike Waskom '09, who has demonstrated this season that he is more than just an excellent backstroker, finished in first and second place respectively. In the 20-yard freestyle Tad Homchick '10 grabbed first in the 50-yard freestyle by a wide margin, while co-captain Ethan Treat '07 carried the momentum into the 200 IM with a victory. Following Treat in third was Derek Prill '08 who is swimming very well in this final half of the season. Treat also won the 200-yard butterfly.
Nationals qualifier Connor Boyd '08 put up another excellent performance on the diving boards against a strong Springfield squad, taking first in both the 1-meter and 3-meter events. Waskom had another great race in the 200 back and Ancona took first in his marquee 200-yard breastroke event. Most memorable was the way distance phenom Christian Witzke '09 recovered from a close loss, by 0.4 seconds, in the 1,000-yard freestyle to come back and win the 500-yard freestyle against the same opponent in another intense race.
With restored confidence after the 141-102 win, the Jeffs have their eyes on the Feb. 23-25 NESCAC Championship meet at Bowdoin College. "With the dual meet season over, the team only has NESCACs to focus on," said Treat. The taper has just begun. Anxious for NESCACs, Ancona explained, "swimmers build up a case of nerves, looking forward to the end, but people just have to hold it together and sustain it for the next three weeks. People are doing a great job now and if they will be able to stick with it for the next three weeks, I think we'll have a really great championship meet."
Amherst took third at last year's NESCACs, behind Williams College and Tufts University. The Middlebury team was suspended for a hazing violation last year and missed championships, but the Panthers are back and hungry to make a statement. With Williams the uncontested number one team, a three-way battle is shaping up for second between Middlebury, Tufts and an ever-strong Amherst squad. "For us it's a question of strategy and figuring out where our guys can do the most damage to other teams," Ancona explained. "In the past we have always done well at the NESCAC meet; we taper well and step up to the pressure of a championship," said Treat.
Women
It's been a year of superlatives for the Amherst women. With the strongest group in Amherst women's swim history, the Jeffs surrendered only one race to the Pride last Saturday as the core group of superstars that includes Anna Haring '10, Mary Marvel '09, co-captain Piper Pettersen '07, co-captain Margaret Ramsey '07, Brittany Sasser '08 and Meghan Stern '09 all took victories. The four seniors are proud to end their college careers as the only Amherst swimmers to have completed two undefeated dual meet seasons and to have beaten Williams twice.
Although the women placed well at Springfield, their times left something to be desired. While slower times could be attributed to the slow and shallow Springfield pool, Pettersen believes, "It was a reminder of how broken down we are, and thus how ready we are to start our taper." Ramsey commented, "The only stand-out swim was Meg Stern's 1:54 [in the] 200-yard freestyle. She's a great racer in that event, but up until this meet hadn't really been showing times like she did last year as a first-year. Her swim at Springfield was great because it proves that she's ready to swim some great times at NESCACs in a couple of weeks and it's definitely a confidence booster." Diver Sabrina Dorman '09 also had a stellar meet, posting one of the two National-qualifying scores she needs in order to take the trip to Houston, Texas.
NESCACs at Williams are fast approaching and the Amherst women are preparing for what should be a three-way battle between Amherst, Middlebury and Williams for first. "We're going into the most important and fun part of the season right now," said Pettersen. "The groundwork has been laid in terms of aerobic conditioning and now is the time for sprint work and fine-tuning."
Pettersen described the team's agenda for the next couple of weeks: "The races at NESCACs will be faster, closer and every place will matter, so things like turns, kickouts, finishes and relay exchanges will be of heightened importance. The next two weeks will be devoted to the details of our races, resting our bodies, stretching and to getting our minds in the right place to race our absolute best. It will take nothing less to have a shot at winning the meet, especially with our small squad."
The strength of Amherst's small squad lies paradoxically in both the aforementioned superstars, and its depth. There is no weak swimmer. "This is easily the best team Amherst women's swimming has ever seen, so it will be exciting to see what we can get done in Williamstown," said Pettersen. Only time and the hard work that has characterized this year's women's season will tell.