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Penn women swimming team compete against columbia on Sunday 11/16 at Sheer pool Women 200 Yard Backstroke Junior Ainsley Cookingham Credit: Boyang Tang

In three years of attendance at Kenyon Nike Invitational, the Penn women’s swimming team never beat the hosts nor took home a title.

That is, until this year.

The Quakers won the three-day Invitational by outscoring Kenyon, Davidson, Carnegie Mellon, and Johns Hopkins. Penn tallied 1457 points, while the second-place Ladies finished with 1330.5. Last year, the Red and Blue finished fourth at the meet.

In the first individual event Thursday, senior Stephanie Nerby took first place in the 1650-yard freestyle by a commanding twelve seconds. Nerby’s effort, and the 107-point lead that the Quakers (1-1, 1-1 Ivy) amassed in Thursday’s only two events set the tone for the rest of the meet.

First-place finishes by freshman Ji Young Lee in the 100 breaststroke and senior Andrea Balint in the 400 individual medley Friday kept the momentum alive.

In addition to several first place finishes, the Quakers showcased their depth in every event by earning at least three or four spots in nearly every final heat.

“We didn’t beat Kenyon because of four of five people. We beat Kenyon because all 25 women contributed,” coach Mike Schnur said. “Every single female we brought to this meet scored. And that’s pretty cool.”

By Saturday — nicknamed “Last day, fast day” — the Quakers were ready to finish their job and swim for the title.

“We were all cheering for each other, we were very supportive of each other,” Nerby said.

To begin the evening, Nerby swept the 500 freestyle and 200 backstroke. Her backstroke win came as a surprise, her focus is usually freestyle events.

“It was fun to watch her win the 200 back, because it’s not a race that she swims very often,” Schnur said.

Schnur also commended senior Andrea Balint for her efforts throughout the meet, but especially Saturday.

In the meet’s final day, she won the 200 IM by three seconds in her final event of the meet — just minutes after placing fourth in the 100 freestyle.

“I think she was still breathing hard from the 100 free going into the IM.” Schnur said.

Additionally, Balint took fourth in the 100 butterfly.

Though Penn did not produce any winning relay teams, all but one relay featured two Quakers teams in the top five spots. Penn utilized the strategy to split relays, ensuring two relay teams with equal talent to score more points than just one first-place finish would.

Led by two senior stars, the entire Penn team emerged victorious from a meet laced with uncertainty due to the banning of high-tech swimsuits.

“We know that all of our fast swims are due to the hard work, rather than wondering if it was because of the suits,” Nerby said.

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