SEASON PREVIEW: M. Swim ready to start season

Ponce DeLeon would be smiling in his grave. The Penn men's swimming team found the fountain of youth during the off-season as it added 14 freshman to its squad. As the Quakers prepare for the upcoming season, these freshman will be key for the Quakers to rebound from last season's disappointing 3-10 record. "We have one of the best recruiting classes in the league," Penn assistant coach Mike Schnur said. "They all come from good swimming backgrounds." Leading the class of Quaker freshmen is the highly recruited Jeff Brown. Brown was the Texas state champion in the 500-yard freestyle and also ranked fourth in the country for high schoolers in that event. In that event he posted the outstanding time of 4 minutes, 27 seconds. Brown and the rest of the Quaker freshmen will be complemented by the leadership of the 16 returning players – especially the seniors – who comprise the rest of the 30-member team. "We have an excellent senior class," Schnur said. "We expect them to provide a superior example in practice to the younger guys. They will carry their team through tough times in the meets because they have all been there before." The player who the team is heavily leaning on to provide this leadership is senior Rob Morris. Morris, the team's top sprinter, has accomplished much in his time at Penn, becoming an Eastern Finalist each year. In addition, he has qualified for the U.S. Senior Nationals. Schnur calls Morris "one of the best swimmers of the league." In addition to Morris, junior Jim McGinnis – the team's top backstroker – and sophomore Geoff Munger are counted on to reverse last year's record. Munger will give this year's large crop of freshman something to shoot for as he won the team's Most Valuable Freshman Award last season. Schnur is optimistic that the infusion of youth with veteran guile will lead to a more successful season. "I think we'll do better this year," Schnur said. "Our guys won't take a backseat to anybody." In order to improve, the Quakers will have to swim past several obstacles. Initially, they will have to improve in league competition. Penn was knocked around in the Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League last year (the eight Ivy League teams with Army and Navy), finishing with a 1-8 record. Moreover, the Quakers will have to overcome the loss of last year's best swimmer, Steve Kuster. Kuster, who many consider to be the best swimmer Penn has ever had, single-handedly catapulted the Penn squad to 33rd best in the country due to his performance in the NCAAs. However, the obstacle that the Quakers are concentrating most on is today's meet against Ivy foes Yale and Cornell. The meet, which takes place at Yale, will be Penn's first tri-meet in its history. Cornell and Yale currently ride two-meet winning streaks against Penn. However, before this recent dry spell, the Quakers dominated these series. Penn hopes to end these mini-slides and return to its former winning ways. The Elis are probably the team to beat in the league. They went 13-1 last year and feature backstroke specialist Shawn Tesoro. The Big Red come into today's meet with slightly less-impressive credentials. Cornell posted a 6-4 record last year, but it does have an impressive freestyler in Shawn Maher. "It will be nice to try to get to off the short end [of the score]," Schnur said. "I think Yale may be a little too deep. We're really concentrating on Cornell." However, the Quakers are going to come full force against all their opponents this season. "There aren't any teams we look past," Schnur said. "[We'll give] a heck of a battle."