The effort leads to seventh place Jumbo team finish at the nationals, their best since 2018
The winners celebrating, from left, assistant coach Norie Hammond, Emmett Adams, Eric Lundgren, Armaan Sikka, Soeren Euvrard, and head coach Adam Hoyt. Photo: Strauss Studios
The Tufts men’s 200 medley relay became co-national champions after tying for first place in the finals at the NCAA Division III Men’s Swimming & Diving Championships at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in North Carolina on March 21.
The Tufts foursome of Eric Lundgren, E25, Emmett Adams, A25, Armaan Sikka, A26, and Soeren Euvrard, E25, combined for a time of 1:26.72 to tie for first place with Emory University in the NCAA 200 medley relay final. They won the Tufts men’s sixth NCAA championship overall, and the first since 2019. It was the first-ever NCAA relay title for the Jumbos.
The 200 medley relay helped Tufts place seventh as a team at NCAAs, which was their best since 2018.
The Tufts 200 medley relay had set a school and NESCAC record with their 1:26.65 mark in the trials that morning. The Jumbos trailed Emory by three-tenths of a second entering the final freestyle leg. Euvrard swam a 19.77 anchor leg to catch Emory and earn the tie. Lundgren swam a school record of 22.00 in the opening 50 backstroke to break that school record.
Lundgren also broke his own school record in the 100 backstroke later that evening with a time of 47.27 seconds for fourth place. That matches his best individual NCAA finish, which was a fourth in the 200 backstroke at the 2023 championships.
Adams also matched his best-ever NCAA individual finish with an eighth place in the 100 breaststroke. Seeded 28th for the race, he swam a time of 54.64 seconds in the final for an eighth-place time, which was 20 spots better than his seed.
Tufts was also eighth in the 800 freestyle relay. Seeded 10th, they won the morning session with a 6:33.96 time, which stood up for an All-American award after the top eight seeds raced in the evening. The team was Rafae Shafi, E27, Ron Lyubman, A28, Sikka, and Lundgren. Shafi’s 1:37.69 in the opening 200 was a school record by nearly a second. This is the best NCAA finish in the 800 free relay for the Jumbos since 2018, when they were seventh.
Ethan Schreier, A25, added an Honorable Mention All-American honor for the Jumbos. In the 200 butterfly final, he had a 1:49.66 time for 10th place.
