W. Swimmers learn lesson in rebuilding

Just four years ago the Dartmouth women's swimming team was the laughing stock of the Ivy League. The Big Green lost 57 consecutive Ivy meets from 1983-84 to 1990-91. But under coach Betsy Mitchell Wilson, who was hired in 1990, Dartmouth has turned its program around and is now in contention for the conference crown. Penn coach Kathy-Lawlor Gilbert has not had the same fortune. Once one of the stronger programs in the Ivy League, Lawlor-Gilbert's Quakers have slid to the bottom of the conference standings. Penn, hoping to win its first meet, made the trip to Hanover January 14 to take on the revitalized Big Green. But Dartmouth (4-1, 3-1 Ivy League) crushed the Quakers 161-80 to remain only one meet behind Ivy leaders Harvard, Yale and Princeton in the loss column. Penn (0-5, 0-5) must now win one of its two remaining meets to avoid a second consecutive 0-7 conference record. The Big Green was led by junior Deb Whitney, who is quickly becoming one of the league's dominant swimmers. Whitney was coming off the best meet of her career against Brown, where she won all three of her events and set pool records in the 100- and 200-yard freestyle events. She followed that up with another impressive outing against the Quakers, winning the 50 freestyle in 25.19 seconds and the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:30.52. Whitney also anchored the first-place 200 freestyle relay team. Dartmouth also dominated the diving events, taking first, second and third places in both the one- and three-meter events. Big Green junior Allison Ruff was near-flawless, winning off both platforms. "Allison has single-handedly resurrected the diving program," Wilson said. Despite its winless record, Penn has consistently gotten strong performances from its top three swimmers -- junior Alison Zegar and sophomores Gillian Morris and Natalie Wolfinger. The trio combined to win five individual races out of five entered. Zegar blew away the field in the 1,650 freestyle, winning in 17 minutes, 44.21 seconds -- more than 17 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. She also won the 500 freestyle (5:11.66). Morris topped the field in the 400 individual medley (4:42.68) and the 200 butterfly (2:10.10). Wolfinger added a first-place finish in the 200 backstroke (2:14.35). The difference between Dartmouth and Penn was the superior depth of the Big Green. Zegar, Morris and Wolfinger got almost no help from their teammates. Without the threesome, the Quakers would have had no first places and only one second place. "It's definitely the depth," sophomore Erin Ridge said. "We're lacking in numbers." Dartmouth also dominated the relay events, finishing one-two in both the 200 medley relay and the 200 freestyle. While the once-strong Penn swimming program falls deeper and deeper into the conference cellar, the swimmers can only dream of the day when they will be challenging for an Ivy League crown. This is not the first time Lawlor-Gilbert has taken on the task of rebuilding a program at Penn. "We've done it before," she said. "We can do it again." The swimmers remain confident they will return as an Ancient Eight power over the course of the next few years. "We're definitely in a rebuilding stage," Ridge said. "We're gong to try to build up just like Dartmouth has." The Quakers can only hope they can turn their program around faster than the Big Green did -- and without enduring an eight-year winless drought.