By Glenn Billman, news staff

Despite coming three places and 296 points ahead of them at the Frank Elm Invitational earlier in the season, the Northeastern University (NU) swim and dive team fell Saturday to Central Connecticut State University (CCSU). The 151-149 loss leaves NU’s record at 6-3 overall and 2-2 in the league.

The Huskies dominated in freestyle, butterfly and the relays, earning a 53-point advantage over the Blue Devils. However, CCSU outperformed NU in backstroke and breaststroke, notching a total of 40 more points in those events. They would tack on another 15-point advantage in the win.

Head coach Roy Coates altered the lineup for the meet, putting swimmers in races they normally do not compete in. Coates attributes this shake-up to CCSU’s narrow win and said, in hindsight, the move was probably a mistake.

“We’re in a tough part of our season,” Coates said. “It was important that we try to move people around, because they do get stale stuck in the same races. Our win or loss record really has no significance. It doesn’t seat us any better, we don’t have standings. It’s all about preparation and what we need to do to get ready for conference championships.”

Senior Tove Bjork attributed the upset to the difficult training the team has been undergoing in preparations for the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Championships in February.

“We’ve been training so hard recently, and I know that everyone is super sore from practice,” Bjork said. “I also think at the Frank Elm everyone was suited up and tapered so naturally, you swim a lot faster. And I think part of it is also because it was at their pool, and they probably really wanted to beat us.”

While the team was shuffled into unfamiliar events, freshman Megan Clark continued her strong rookie performance in her signature events. She led the team with two individual first place wins in the 50 and 100-yard freestyle and participated in two first-place relays. Seniors Kerry Treusdell and Delaney Lanker, junior Sara Touchette-McGowan and sophomore Carly Schnabel each notched first place finishes.

“We definitely weren’t expecting Central Connecticut to be as fast as they were, so I think that took us and definitely the coaches back a little bit,” Lanker said. “Honestly, if [the coaches] had made two minor changes we would have won the meet, because we only lost by two points. The little tiny changes, like if they had just kept one girl in an event they normally swim, those points would have been made up.”

On the boards, junior Caroline Gonsalves led the divers and came just behind CCSU’s Annemarie Durham, the top diver in the Northeast Conference, for second place in the 1 and 3-meter dives. Along the way, she set a season best of 261.97 points in the 1-meter.

“Having that competition I think just helps you step it up and really focus and try to do your best,” diving coach Lauren Colby said. “January can be a hard month for both swimmers and divers, coming off of [a] training trip. […] They have a meet every weekend in January, but I think that’s helping them stay focused. When you don’t have as much going on […], I think it can be a little bit difficult focusing.”
The Huskies will compete in Long Island University Brooklyn’s tri-meet with Wagner College this Friday and Saturday.

Photo courtesy Jim Pierce, Northeastern Athletics