2024 MIT Winter Invitational
- December 6-8, 2024
- Zesiger Center Pool, Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Short Course Yards (25 yards)
- Meet Results
The MIT women put together a strong performance to win the 2024 MIT Winter Invite, while the Tufts men took home the team title for the third consecutive year.
Women’s Recap
The Engineers were stellar in the women’s meet, putting up the top times across all five relays for this season so far. Last season, the MIT women took home their first national title in a relay in program history in the 200 medley relay.
The Engineers got things rolling on Friday night in the 800 freestyle relay, crushing the school record by nearly seven seconds (7:18.87) with the team of Alex Turvey (1:50.57), Sydney Smith (1:49.62), Kate Augustyn (1:50.14), and Ella Roberson (1:48.54). That time would have been good for 2nd at NCAAs last March.
The same quartet also closed the meet with a school record in the 400 free relay (3:22.31), with Turvey reprising her lead-off position (50.52), followed by Roberson (49.52), Augustyn (51.28), and Smith (50.99).
Turvey (23.33), Annika Naveen (22.75), Smith (22.88), and Roberson (22.10) made it a trio of freestyle school records with a win in the 200 free relay (1:31.06), a time that would have beat Pomona-Pitzer’s title-winning time by nearly half a second.
Turvey, a graduate student who spent her undergraduate career at Pomona-Pitzer, was a key component of the Sagehen’s 2024 titles in the 200 and 400 free relays.
The MIT women were also dominant in the medley relays, setting new pool records in both. The 200 medley (1:40.44) consisted of Augustyn (25.66), first-year Sarah Bernard (28.79), Naveen (23.87), and Roberson (22.12). The 400 medley saw a similar squad of Augustyn (53.68), Bernard (1:02.48), Turvey (55.11), and Roberson (49.49) team up (3:40.76).
There’s still a lot of the season left to go, but this puts the Engineers in a strong position come March. Last season they finished 5th at NCAAs, their highest in program history and just 15.5 points back of 4th-place Williams College.
A handful of individual school records also went down at the hands of the Engineers. Roberson reset her own records in the 50 free (22.86) and 100 free (49.52), while Bernard broke MIT’s program records in the 200 breast (2:13.89) and 400 IM (4:19.58). Smith also set a new MIT record in the 100 fly (54.89), a standard that had stood for over a decade.
Tufts got two wins from junior Madeline Dunn, who won the 500 free (4:52.76) and 1650 free (16:49.76). Dunn’s time in the mile is a new personal best and undercuts her time from the 2024 NCAA championships by nearly 30 seconds. Her swim was the second sub-17:00 outing of her career.
Other Highlights:
- 2024 double-backstroke champion Kate Augustyn hit an NCAA A-cut in the 100 back leading off MIT’s 400 medley relay (53.68). The senior owns the national record in the event.
- MIT divers Fiora Beratahani and Rachel Loh went 1-2 in both boards. They were joined by teammate Emma Scott for a podium sweep in 3-meter.
Men’s Recap
On the men’s side, fifth-year Tobe Obochi put up a strong performance in the final NCAA meet of his career. He shone in his signature sprint freestyle events and flexed his versatility in the short-axis strokes. Obochi owns individual national titles in the 100 free (2022), 50 free (2024), and the 200 and 400 freestyle relays (2022).
Obochi easily won the 50 free (19.78) and 100 free (43.86), though he swam faster times on relay lead-offs and in prelims. His morning time leading off the Engineers’ 200 free relay was a new personal best and pool record, just missing the school record by 0.05-seconds. His fastest 100 free came from the prelims of the individual event (43.66).
Those familiar with Obochi’s exploits won’t be surprised by how he split his 100 freestyles, but it’s worth noting that the margin between his opening and closing 50s narrowed in his three swims on Sunday. He split 21.69/21.97 in prelims, 21.90/21.96 in finals, and 21.89/21.93 on a relay lead-off.
Obochi also competed in a 100 fly time trial (47.47) and the 100 breast (52.75). His time in the latter was an NCAA A-cut and currently stands as the fastest time in D3.
With Obochi’s departure, the Engineers lose a central member of their sprint core. However, the freshman class looks ready to step up. Grant Hu set a new school record in the 400 IM (3:51.74) and also picked up a win in the 500 free (4:26.74). Gidean Karp won a narrow race in the 200 free (1:38.59) over Tufts’ Ron Lyubman (1:38.64) who set a new school record for the Jumbos.
Even with standout performances, the Engineers’ smaller squad was no match for Tufts in the overall standings.
The Jumbos’ top performer was Eric Lundgren, who helped break four team records over the course of the meet. Individually, he set a new record in the 100 backstroke leading off a relay (47.28) after already breaking it in the individual event. He also cleared the school record in a 400 IM time trial (3:55.77). The senior also broke the pool record in the 200 back (1:44.65), finishing within two-tenths of his best time.
Lundgren swam backstroke on Tufts’ winning and record-breaking and medley relays. He (22.20) was joined by Emmett Adams (23.95), Ethan Schreier (21.47), and Soeren Euvrard (19.75) in the 200 medley. In the 400 medley, Lundgren’s record time was followed by Adams (53.52), Schreier (47.58), and Euvrard (43.97) once again.
Scheier also picked up two event wins in the 100 fly (48.38) and 200 fly (1:47.37).
Other Highlights:
- Emory’s Solly Berkenwald swept the diving events, amassing 514.20 points in 1-meter and 557.70 in 3-meter.
- Sophomore Jack Nussbaum (Tufts) won the 200 breast (2:01.01), over four seconds faster than what he swam at last season’s NCAA championships.
Team Scores
Women:
- MIT – 1944.5
- Tufts – 1602.5
- RPI – 760
- Simmons – 279
- Wellesley – 263
- Emory (divers only) – 157
Men:
- Tufts – 1769
- MIT – 1538
- RPI – 880
- Emory (divers only) – 48
