For the Penn men's swimming team, Saturday's three-way meet against Cornell and Yale marked a new beginning for the program. The Quakers (0-2, 0-2 EISL) are coming off a mediocre season last year, in which the squad finished with a dual-meet record of 5-6. The upperclassmen are hoping the addition of 11 freshmen will propel Penn to a better finish in the Eastern Championships than its seventh place last season. The Cornell-Yale meet was expected to be an early indication of the team's prospects for the coming year. Although the team lost to both the Big Red (1-1, 1-1) and the Elis (2-0, 2-0), the younger swimmers actually fared well. "This meet this year was better than this meet last year," sophomore Matt Robon said. Penn's top swimmer was sophomore Jeff Brown, who picked up right where he left off last year. As a freshman, Brown established himself as one of the top freestylers in the distance events. Brown sat out the distance events Saturday, opting to compete in the 200 freestyle, the 500 freestyle and the 200 butterfly. The switch was made to make room for promising freshmen Colin Robinson and Andrew Valins. The move paid off as Brown swept the three events. "Jeff's a class above everybody else," senior captain Jim McGinnis said. The freshmen swimmers were equally impressive. The Quakers took first and second in the 200 breaststroke behind the 1-2 punch of Rob Hassett and Andrew Valins. "It's kind of a new experience for them -- their first dual meet and Ivy League meet," Brown said. "It's high pressure. That's the nature of a rivalry." McGinnis, the team's top backstroker, sat out the meet, citing personal reasons. Without McGinnis, the Quakers did not have anybody to anchor the backstroke events. Add to the mix the subpar performance from the breaststrokers, and the Quakers' problems become more clear. Even more discouraging may have been the weak outing from the diving squad. "They had a rough go," McGinnis said. "I'm sure they'll do better." With McGinnis back in the pool and the expected improvement in the diving events, Penn is confident it will be competitive within the Ivy League. "There was definitely some good swimming," McGinnis said. "We just didn't have enough depth."
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