Young Lions challenge Swimming Men look to avenge last year's loss

Three tenths of a second. Had the Penn men's 400 yard freestyle relay been three tenths of a second faster last year against Columbia, Penn would have emerged from that contest with its first victory of the season. The Quakers had a 10-point lead going into that event, and all they needed was a second-place finish. Columbia won the event but Penn still had a chance. There were three swimmers left in the pool, and two of them were Quakers. Whoever hit the wall first would claim victory for his team. Both teams were evenly matched, as the score indicated throughout the meet. The final event was no different. The race was dead even through the last 50 meters and all three swimmers seemed to hit the wall at the same time. All heads turned to the scoreboard. Penn's first swimmer had finished 0.3 seconds behind Columbia's second place team. The score was Columbia 120, Penn 117. "It was the most crushing defeat of my swimming career," said Penn co-captain Jeff Brown, "and I've been swimming since I was five." Tomorrow Brown and the Penn men's swimming team (1-2, 1-2 Ivy League) have a chance to avenge last year's loss when they play host to Columbia (1-2, 0-2 Ivy League) at noon at Scheerr Pool. This meet will wrap up the first half of the Quakers' season. "It's a long-standing rivalry and these teams always seem ready for each other," said Penn head coach Kathy Lawlor Gilbert. "Our team was really disappointed after last year's loss and they're determined it won't happen again." The Quakers are hardly the same team that stumbled into the Lion's den last December with an 0-3 record and a captain who had to sit out the first half of the season due to academic ineligibility. Led by Brown, who has yet to lose an individual event this year, and several strong freestylers, the Quakers defeated Yale earlier this season and almost upset Cornell. Penn also finished second in the Philadelphia Open last weekend against several Division I scholarship teams. "Jeff set a really good example for the rest of the team to follow," Lawlor Gilbert said. "He's showed them how they can do best for themselves and the team. This team's really come together and they're ready for Columbia." The Lions, who lost Gregg Billings and Fletch Callahan to graduation, two of their strongest swimmers, haven't won a conference meet this season. Callahan returns this year as an assistant coach. "I'm less scared of him as a coach then in the pool," Brown said. "Fletch was a great dual meet swimmer." Columbia hasn't found anyone to replace him. Like Penn, the Lions are a young team, with 14 freshmen. They also have only one diver. Although they crushed Rhode Island 138-79, the Lions were mauled by Harvard 142-82 and Yale 156-133. Columbia is looking for its first Ivy League win of this season. This is also their last meet before the break. "They're a strong team and we match up very well," Brown said. "But I think we have an advantage being at home this year. Last year we had to get up, get on a bus and swim. We were tight, and the fact that we barely lost lost last year bodes well for Saturday." "We have to stay focused on each event at hand," Lawlor Gilbert added. "As long as we're consistent on turns and finishes, we can take it from them. But there will be no room for complacency."