Teams: Men's Swimming & Diving: Press Releases

March 4, 2002

RECORDS FALL AS JUMBOS COMPETE AT NESCAC CHAMPIONSHIPS
Written by Michael Douglas

MEDFORD -- Three Tufts University records were shattered this past weekend as the men's swimming and diving team competed in their final full-squad meet of the season. Sophomore Tyler Duckworth (Burnsville, MN/Academy of Holy Angels) and freshmen Seth Baron (Dallas, TX/Plano West) and Rich Halpert (Acton, MA/Acton-Boxborough) amassed record-setting times en route to leading the Jumbos to a fourth-place finish at the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Championships at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn., this past Friday through Sunday (Mar. 1-3). The Middlebury Panthers took home the league championship with a total of 1,544 points, holding a 122-point margin over second-place Williams.

Leading the pack for the Jumbos was Duckworth, who finished in fourth place in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:08.21. He finished 2.52 seconds behind event-winner David Cecere of Hamilton. With this strong race, Duckworth managed to break his own one-year-old Tufts record of 2:08.74, which he set at last year's NESCAC Meet. He also placed third in the 400-yard Individual Medley with a time of 4:11.38.

Baron holds the prestige of breaking the oldest of the three records. His preliminary race time of 1:55.72 in the 200-yard butterfly shattered Tim Sullivan's 17-year old record of 1:56.56, set in 1985. He placed sixth in the event overall with a time of 1:56.41 in the finals, 0.24 seconds behind Middebury's Robert Norman in fifth place and 3.45 seconds behind event-winner Rob Winograd of Amherst. In the 1000-yard freestyle, Baron placed sixth with a time of 10:02.01.

Halpert rounded out the record-setting trio with his 200-yard Individual Medley time of 1:56.23, leaving Brian Herrick's six-year record of 1:56.44 in his wake. He placed sixth overall in the event, 0.89 seconds behind Chris Morton of Amherst in fifth and 3.46 seconds behind event-winner Eric Schwenker of Hamilton. He placed fourth in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:44.42, only 2.68 seconds behind event-winner Jeff McBride of Williams. His time of 1:56.97 placed him sixth in a tight 200-yard backstroke race, with only 0.45 seconds separating him from fourth place.

As icing on the cake, Duckworth and Baron provisionally qualified for the NCAA National Championship meet, to be held March 22-24 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Because they only qualified provisionally, they must wait until Thursday for the national committee to announce the field of competitors for the National Meet.

The Jumbos had a strong showing in the relay events. The 800-yard Freestyle Relay team of Halpert, junior Ed Edson (Rochester, MN/Rochester John Marshall), sophomore Kaili Mauricio (Eugene, OR/Sheldon), and freshman Alex Turner (Wilmette, IL/New Trier) placed third with a time of 7:02.53. The 400-yard freestyle relay team of Halpert, junior Ryan Lahey (Fishkill, NY), junior Brendan Smyth (Orange, CT/Amity), and sophomore Nick Ghoussaini (Frankfurt, Germany/Frankfurt International) placed third with a time of 3:12.35.

Some other Jumbos secured top individual finishes at the NESCAC meet. Freshman Mike Rochette (Cumberland, RI/Mount St. Charles Academy) placed third in the 50-Yard Breaststroke with a time of 27.33, 0.87 seconds behind event winner Elliot Gansner of Williams. The Jumbos had a strong showing in the 100-yard IM, taking three of the top five places in the race. Sophomore Aeric Solow (North Pole, AK/North Pole) finished third with a time of 55.02, junior Jimmy Heagle (Tokyo, Japan/St. Mary's International) finished in fourth with a time of 55.25, and sophomore Jamie Meyers (Bernardsville, NJ/Bernards) finished fifth with a time of 56.12. Lahey placed fifth in the 50-yard Backstroke with a time of 25.60, 1.08 seconds behind event-winner Scott Strickler of Middlebury. Rounding out the team highlights, Edson placed sixth in the 100-yard freestyle, with only 0.09 seconds separating him from third.

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