Swim teams face Dartmouth in first meets after break

Women to compete without any divers Most Penn students spent their Winter Break shoveling snow, watching football games and catching up on lost sleep. The Penn women's swimming team had a different sort of break. The Quakers attempted to escape the miserable weather of the northeast by heading to Florida for a week of practice. However, the weather was not what the team expected, as rain and hail greeted the Penn arrival. Penn coach Kathy Lawlor-Gilbert said the team was able to overcome the adverse weather conditions and have successful practices anyway. "They trained really well," Lawlor-Gilbert said. "They showed a real sense of purpose. They were focused as a group." Focus will be the key for the Quakers (0-4 overall, 0-4 Ivy League) if they are going to handle the new challenge that presented itself upon their return to Philadelphia. Penn will be without a women's diving team for the remainder of the season. Two season-ending injuries and a defection have left the Quakers without divers to compete for any of the 26 points that can be gained through diving. Spotting those points will make it extremely difficult for Penn to gain an overall victory this season. It is particularly disappointing because the Quakers hosts Dartmouth (3-3, 1-3) Saturday (12:00 p.m., Sheerr Pool). Lawlor-Gilbert felt Penn could have held its own with the Big Green. "If we had divers, we would have a really competitive meet," Lawlor-Gilbert said. "We could have defeated the Dartmouth women." The depletion of the diving team intensifies Penn's original goal for the second half of the season, which is the individually-oriented Easterns March 17-20. "Our main goal is to do well at Easterns," senior Eilish Byrne said. "Although we want to compete to the best of our ability against Dartmouth, we are not focusing solely on them." The Quakers have already qualified five swimmers for the Easterns and are looking to send more. In order to qualify, a swimmer must beat a specific time in competition. "We want to qualify girls for the Easterns," sophomore Gillian Beamer said. "I haven't qualified for the Easterns, so that's my goal." Ironically, the depletion of the diving team might help the Quakers qualify for the Easterns, as further emphasis will be placed on individual achievements. "In some ways it helps people to focus on what they need to do individually," Lawlor-Gilbert said. "We're making a real push towards the Easterns." Byrne feels Penn will be able to keep its focus on the Easterns throughout the rest of the season. "I think the girls have a great attitude in terms of keeping sight on the Easterns, which can difficult when you have difficult dual meets to get through," Byrne said. Dartmouth will be the first stern test of the second half. Lawlor-Gilbert believes the hard work the Quakers did in Florida bodes well for the team. "They practiced and trained very well in Florida," Lawlor-Gilbert said. "They really showed loud and clear that they want a strong second season." However, returning to Gimbel Gym might be a disappointment after training in an outdoor Olympic-sized pool in Florida. "It was nice just to go to a different environment away from Gimbel Gym," freshman Gillian Morris said. "It was a vacation in a way."