|
Teams: Men's Swimming & Diving: Team
Overview
►
2004-09 Top 5 Times
By Event
►Alumni
Questionnaire
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
fifth 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 four seasons, Tufts swimmers have
rewritten the record book setting 21 school records.
The Jumbos took second place at the competitive NESCAC meet last
winter. That marked the second time in the last three years that
they were conference runner-up. A young Tufts team displayed great
depth at the conference meet, with several underclassmen showing
promise for the future. Only two Jumbos posted All-Conference
performances (top 3), but the team scored 1,489 points to comfortably
defeat third-place Amherst by 100 points. Freshman Chris Vorliceks
took second place in the 400 individual medley with a school-record
time of 4:08.21.
Sophomore Rob Matera was an All-American on the 1- and 3-meter
boards at the 2008 NCAA Championship meet. In 2007, Greg Bettencourt
swam two national top 20 times at the NCAA meet. Tufts was third in
the NESCAC meet by just two points behind second-place Amherst in
2007. Freshman Lawrence Chan won the 50 breaststroke event in 26.83
seconds that year. The Jumbos earned a 10th place finish at the 2006
NCAA Championships. Tufts swimmers won All-American honors in
five events and Honorable Mention All-American honors in four
events that year.
Hoyt was hired to lead the Jumbos after veteran coach Don Megerle
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 6-2
dual meet record, the Tufts team now has an impressive 32-5 record
in four seasons under Hoyt. Tufts has defeated Division I Boston
College in each of the last three seasons.
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.
Eight 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 15th in the 2008 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.
Nearly all of the teams leading performers from last season are
back, led by senior Andrew Shields, who had the teams best times in
three events and was part of four relay bests last season. James
Longhurst and Ben Mitchell are also talented seniors who return to
lead the Jumbos. Chan, Kyles Jones and Matt Salzberg are leading
members of the junior class this season. Vorlicek, Matt Glenn, Joe
Lessard and David Meyer were prominent scorers as freshmen last
season.
Veteran diving coach Brad Snodgrass was the NCAA Division III Diving
Coach of the Year last winter. Now in his 22nd season coaching with
Tufts, he has developed one of the area's strongest programs. His
success as a diving coach includes two NCAA national champions and
several All-Americans. 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.
|