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Teams: Men's Swimming & Diving: Team
Overview
The Tufts University Men's Swimming & Diving team is a competitive
force in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC)
and on the NCAA Division III level. Coached by Adam Hoyt, now in his
fourth season, the Jumbos regularly finish among the leaders at the
conference championships and annually earn All-American awards at
the national meet. In the past three seasons, Tufts swimmers have
rewritten the record book setting 20 school records.
Last season, senior Greg Bettencourt swam two national top 20 times
at the NCAA meet. His time of 4 minutes, 33.27 seconds in the 500
freestyle was 12th overall for honorable mention All-American
recognition. At the conference championships, Tufts freshman
Lawrence Chan won the 50 breaststroke event in 26.83 seconds. Tufts
placed third overall, just two points behind second-place Amherst.
Tufts enjoyed one of the most successful seasons in its history in
2005-06. The Jumbos earned a 10th place finish at the 2006 NCAA
Championships and Tufts swimmers won All-American honors in five
events and Honorable Mention All-American honors in four events. The
team was second at the NESCAC championships and set 10 new school
records during the season.
Hoyt was hired to lead the Jumbos in place of veteran coach Don
Megerle, who retired from coaching after 33 years in 2004. Under
Hoyt's training, the Tufts program has continued its run as one of
New England's top programs. Hoyt was named NESCAC Coach of the Year
in 2006. That was third Coach of the Year award in four years for
the Tufts program. Megerle was the conference's Coach of the Year in
2003 and 2004.
The assistant men's and women's swimming Coach at Trinity College
from 2001-04, Hoyt is a native of Orange, Connecticut and a 2001
graduate of Hamilton College. He took over a Tufts program that was
in the national spotlight under Megerle, a five-time regional Coach
of the Year, longtime NCAA championship meet coordinator and member
of the International Swimming Hall of Fame. With last year's 10-1
dual meet record, the Tufts team now has an impressive 26-3 record
in three seasons under Hoyt. Tufts has defeated Division I Boston
College in each of the last two seasons. Nine Tufts swimmers earned
All-NESCAC honors last year.
Members of the NESCAC, Tufts is part of the nation's most
competitive small college conference academically and athletically.
The NESCAC is a group of highly selective liberal arts colleges and
universities that share an academics-first philosophy for
intercollegiate athletics. The 2006-07 Jumbos were ranked among the
top 40 in the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA)
Academic Team rankings with a 3.33 cumulative grade point average.
Two team members were awarded NESCAC All-Academic Team honors last
winter.
Located right outside of Boston, Tufts offers a well-rounded
collegiate experience to student-athletes. Within its picturesque
small-college campus, Tufts is a major university with "an
unprecedented diversity of programs, exceptional faculty and staff,
and bright and talented students," according to President Lawrence
S. Bacow. The Athletics Department sponsors a varsity program of 28
sports that is among the most competitive in the NCAA's Division
III. Tufts finished sixth in the 2006 U.S. Sports Academy Directors'
Cup, the award presented annually to the best overall collegiate
athletics programs in the country. The University's proximity to a
world-class city renowned for its academic institutions is also a
major draw.
Hailing from across the world, the men of Tufts Swimming & Diving
maintain an unparalleled sense of team camaraderie, resulting in its
consistent level of success. Each year during the winter recess, the
team travels to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida for a fun and intensive
two-week training program, increasing the physical strength and
endurance of each swimmer and enriching the bonds within the
program.
A new group of leaders will emerge for the Jumbos in 2007-08, led by
versatile 2006 All-American Andrew Shields. Chan and junior James
Longhurst will be a strong pair in the breaststroke. Senior Sean
Sullivan looks to lead the team in the backstroke for his senior
year. Junior Ben Mitchell and sophomore Calvin DeVries are
up-and-coming talents in the butterfly. Patrick Kinsella in the
distance freestyle and and Kyle Jones in a variety of events are two
more members of a talented sophomore class. That also includes Rob
Matera, an All-NESCAC diver last season.
Veteran diving coach Brad Snodgrass was the NCAA Division III Diving
Coach of the Year in 2005. Now in his 20th season coaching with
Tufts, he has developed one of the area's strongest programs. A New
England High School champion who competed collegiately at Maine and
Columbia, Snodgrass is also active in United States Diving, recently
serving as the regional technical director, registrar and treasurer
for New England.
Tufts All-Americans Jon Godsey and Jason Kapit join Ryan Bouldin, a
record-setting swimmer at the University of the South, and Rob
Winograd, an eight-time All-American at Amherst College, as the
team's assistant coaches under Hoyt.
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