W. Swimmers sink in opener

The Penn women's swimming team dove into its season head first Saturday at Scheerr Pool. The Quakers faced Cornell and Yale, two of the top three teams in the Ivy League. Although Penn lost to both the Big Red and the Elis, the team did gain experience for the 11 freshmen who make up the majority of the team. One big bright spot was senior captain Alison Zegar's performance. Zegar swam her best-ever times in both the 1,000-yard freestyle and the 500 freestyle. "Zegar swam exceedingly well. She had her best time in years," Penn coach Kathy Lawlor-Gilbert said. "I'm very pleased with her performance, especially with no rest." Penn decided not to rest in the days preceding this meet and instead train through competition until it races Columbia Dec. 9. Most teams rest before a meet. Despite all the vigorous work, Zegar still swam well. "This sets her up for a good season," Penn assistant Mike Schnur said. "Starting off fast puts her in the position to really be a force in the league by the end of the year." Zegar also contributed to the team outside the pool. "The seniors are giving the team a nice balance," Lawlor-Gilbert said. "It's helpful to have a bigger perspective on the season. We're very young, and it's going to take a while to fill in all the spots." During some races the lack of experience was evident, but the young Quakers kept their head in the meet. "For many this was their first meet, it was a big learning experience," Schnur said. "The women did a nice job staying focused. It was a hard swim." Team members were also enthusiastic about the meet. "Last year Cornell and Yale were out to get each other, and it was like we weren't even there," sophomore swimmer Karen Weiss said. "This year we swam much better. We were definitely in the meet." Poor health condition also acted as a setback to the beginning of the Quakers' season. Three women could not compete with injuries or sickness. Everyone should be ready to swim by the Columbia meet, Penn's goal for the first semester. Today, the team heads up to Princeton. This meet is different than the rest of the season's competitions because it is a sprint meet, in which the distances are all shorter than usual. "This meet is out of the ordinary," Schnur said. "We're aiming to try to have fun." The Quakers are preparing for this meet like they prepared for Saturday's meet -- by training right through it. "Each meet we're looking for people to compete the best they can," Schnur said. "Each time they swim it's a learning opportunity for the swimmer and the coach. It teaches what we do wrong in training, so we can race better in competition." Princeton has won the Eastern championships the last four years.