W. Swimmers fall to Crimson

Never wait for the last minute, right? For the Penn women's swimming team, this maxim proved true. Sunday's meet against Harvard offered the last chance for the Quakers who have not qualified for the Easterns to make the cut. None did. Hampered by recent illnesses, a long road trip and unfamiliar surroundings, Harvard proved to be a challenging place to swim one's best. The Crimson, taking full advantage of its superior talent and depth, blitzed Penn 135-92. The Quakers (3-7, 0-7 Ivy League) knew a victory at Harvard (5-1, 5-1) was out of reach. So their goal was to qualify more swimmers for the Easterns. It was not to be. "I think Harvard is a difficult place to swim outrageously fast," Penn assistant coach Mike Schnur said. "The women swam pretty well. Many of the women had a good meet. A lot of the women were coming off illness. They swam tough and swam strong." Six swimmers had already qualified for the Easterns which is scheduled for February 24-26 at Princeton. They are sophomores Alison Zegar, Kerry Bolstad, Gillian Beamer and freshmen Gillian Morris, Natalie Wolfinger and Emily Montes. Sophomore Tanya Nolan and senior Megan Staats were added to Penn's Eastern squad as relay specialists. It is not necessary to qualify in order to swim relays at the Easterns. The Quakers were hoping for more additions to the Easterns' list from Sunday's meet. However, Cambridge was not kind. "I think people were generally disappointed," Morris said. "A couple of people didn't make cuts, which was the goal of the swim meet. We weren't expecting to win." The focus has been on the Easterns the entire season and especially after the depletion of the diving team. With the end of the dual-meet season, the Easterns looms large as a final test for this young squad. The training is in very much an Eastern championship mode. Less endurance, more rest and fine-tuning technique are currently on the agenda. "We'll start bringing them down in yardage," Penn coach Kathy Lawlor-Gilbert said. "We're working on starts, turns, kicks off the wall, distance off the wall, fine-tuning breathing patterns and stroke work." Of those who have qualified for Easterns, most have qualified for more than one event. This will give the Quakers an added opportunity to gain points at the championships. Strong performances by those that have qualified also bode well. The coaches were impressed by Wolfinger's performance in the 400-yard individual medley, Montes in the 100 backstroke, and Morris in the 100 butterfly. "At the Easterns we're hoping to get great performances from just about everybody," Schnur said. "We're looking for a lot of women to really compete and do some major damage."