Swimmers ‘ready to roll’ at Terp Invite

For some, this is the last meet of the season. For others, it’s the last meet of their collegiate careers.

And for the top Penn swimmers, it’s just one meet closer to the Ivy League championships.

The men’s and women’s swimming teams will face six other schools this weekend at the Terp Invite at University of Maryland, giving each swimmer the best chance to end the season on a high note.

“This is to give everybody an opportunity to swim fast at the end of the year,” coach Mike Schnur said. “We’re limited on the Ivy Championship squad to 17 swimmers and three divers so all the other kids on the team need a place to swim fast. Our entire goal is to go as fast as we can and see the kids get their best times.”

The best swimmers from each Ivy League team will take the weekend off in preparation for their respective league championships.

“Everybody at this meet is in the exact same boat,” Schnur said. “There’s a very wide variety of ability levels at this event. There’s a few who are a little bit slower than everybody else, and there’s a lot of kids who are very similar to our kids.”

For some seniors who will not be participating in the league championship, this weekend will serve as their final meet as Penn athletes.

“They’re ready to roll,” Schnur said. “This is their last opportunity as college athletes. Our seniors that are in this meet are ready to go. They’ve trained really hard this year.”

The fastest swimmers at the invite have a chance of making the championship roster, providing motivation to swim harder.

For most, however, the season ends here, and just as he does in every race, Schnur expects a strong finish.

This article has been changed from its original version to reflect that Alex Kalish and Mike Tompkins will not be participating this weekend to prepare for Ivy championships.

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