M. Swomming gets first win

After a last minute, heartbreaking defeat at the hands of Columbia December 10, the Penn men's swimming team knew it had its work cut out going into Saturday's meet at Dartmouth. A team that began the year full of optimism had grown frustrated with this recurring pattern of having a victory slip away at the end of the meet. And the Quakers had over a month to think about it. With both the diving and swimming teams putting together their strongest performances of the year, Penn (1-4,1-4 EISL) was able to go on the road and defeat Dartmouth 131-112 Saturday. Having over a month of doing nothing but practice can have one of two effects on a team, according to Penn assistant coach Mike Schnur. It can either wear a team down both mentally and physically, or else it can be used as a tool to build unity and strength. At Dartmouth (1-2-1, 1-2-1) Penn chose option number two. "The team really came together over break," sophomore Brian Stern said. "It gave a lot of kids who never hang out with the team a chance to get together. Over break we really worked hard and got some good experience. I really think this helped us out in the longer events." The longer events secured a Quaker victory. Led by a final surge in the 1,000-meter swim, freshman Andrew Valins was able to overtake his Big Green foe and consequently push Penn over the top in the meet for the first time this season. This victory in the 1,000 and Stern's victory in the 400 individual medley, were made possible by workouts that consisted of an increase in distance during practice. The most excitement of the meet was found out of the pool. Penn junior diver Josh Schultz felt that the scores he received were anything but fair. In dual meets, the head coach from each team judges the divers. It is normal to expect a coach to give a diver from her team an extra half-point per dive for the simple reason tacking on half points will possibly contribute to a victory. For the same reason, a coach takes off half a point from a diver from an opposing school. But Dartmouth coach Betsy Wilson apparently embellished this unwritten rule. "On two or three of my dives he dropped at least a full point," Schultz said. "I didn't dive well, but basically if [Wilson] would have given me some points, I would have scored much better." This scenario unfolded in the one-meter diving event, but Schultz was able to regroup and capture first place honors in the three-meter dive. "You need five optional dives and one required dive," Schultz said. "During the year it's tough. You don't know if you should throw a dive in that you have down pat, or if you should try out some newer dives." If Schultz can continue to win meets even when he does not dive well and the Quakers get the consistency from their distance swimmers, Penn will have a lot to look forward to. With a bus ride home Stern called "ecstatic," the Quakers hope their newly found confidence will carry them through the rest of the season.