W. Swimmers gain rare sweep

The Penn women's swimming team blew Navy right out of the water Friday afternoon and dissected Johns Hopkins Sunday to complete a rare weekend sweep at Sheerr Pool. The Quakers snapped their six-meet losing streak in stellar fashion, crushing the Midshipmen 168.5-125.5 despite forfeiting 32 diving points. The Blue Jays, ranked in the Division III Top 10, were never really a threat as Penn cruised to a 140-93 victory. "We put it all together this weekend," Penn coach Kathy Lawlor-Gilbert said. "Everything these girls have worked so hard for is coming true." Against Navy, the Quakers (4-6) jumped out to a huge early lead as five different Penn swimmers won the first six events. The Midshipmen (6-5) narrowed the gap to 80-67 with a one-two finish in the 50-yard freestyle and an uncontested sweep of the one-meter diving competition, but that was as close as Navy would get all day. Sophomores Tanya Nolan (55.83 seconds) and Kari Bolstad (55.06) then went one-two in the 100 freestyle, as did freshmen Natalie Wolfinger and Emily Montes in the 200 backstroke and sophomore Gillian Beamer and senior Eilish Byrne in the 200 breaststroke. Sophomore Alison Zegar then sunk Navy for good by capturing the 500 freestyle (5:08.69) and extending the Quaker lead to 45 points with only four events remaining. "Alison Zegar swam two excellent races," Lawlor-Gilbert said. "Her 1,000 freestyle was her fastest untapered, unshaved time ever, and her 500 freestyle was either her best or her second-best." Against Johns Hopkins, the Quakers once again buried the opposition early and often, capturing the meet's first five events to put pressure on the Blue Jays (7-4). With diving excluded from the official team score, Johns Hopkins never found a foothold to climb back in the meet. "I think we stole their thunder early," Lawlor-Gilbert said. "We were decisive in the early events." Penn also qualified its sixth swimmer for the Eastern Championships when Beamer made her cut Sunday in the 200 breaststroke. "It was such a relief to finally get it over with," Beamer said. "It's been frustrating because I've been recording the same times all year." The Quakers' weekend sweep provided a much-needed morale booster. Penn, which has only 14 members and no diving team, has been fighting an uphill battle all year. After the Navy meet, the Quakers gathered poolside for a rousing rendition of the "The Red and Blue" to celebrate their first victory of the season at Sheerr Pool. With only two dual meets left before the Eastern Championships, Penn may be peaking at just the right time. "We try to go after all of our meets like we're going to win," Montes said. "But we knew we had a better chance going into this weekend and that gave us a little more confidence. This will give us even more confidence for the rest of the season." · The Quakers are looking to continue their recent winning ways in today's battle against Swarthmore. The dual-meet, which takes place at Swarthmore, will give Penn a chance to grab its fifth win of the season and continue its new-found momentum towards the Easterns.

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