Big Green sinks W. Swimming

Dartmouth surprises the Quakers with well-rested squad The Penn women's swimming team was caught a little off guard at Scheerr Pool Saturday. Dartmouth, considered by the Quakers to be a comparable opponent, defeated Penn, 182-116. "We thought it would be a real close meet, a good battle between two pretty equal teams," Penn assistant coach Mike Schnur said. However Penn, just beginning its grueling mid-season training program, did not rest in the days before the meet, while Dartmouth came in both rested and shaved. "We didn't anticipate they would prepare for the meet the way they did," Schnur said. "So it turned a meet that could have been a very close meet, with a chance for us to win, into one where it was just putting them over the top in a lot of events." The Big Green follows a different schedule in which classes begin on Jan. 2, so Dartmouth trains before the Christmas break. "It would be rather difficult to get into some really good, middle of the season, hard training and then bring the team all the way down to be rested and shaved for a dual meet, when our focus this second half is our championship meet," Penn coach Kathy Lawlor-Gilbert said. Even without the rest, a number of women swam well. Lauren Ballough won the 100-yard backstroke. Alycia Kaufman broke her personal best in the 100 breast. Captain Alison Zegar continued to dominate the league in the 500 and 1000 freestyle events. The diving events hurt Penn the most. Only one of four divers, Naomi Stolker, even got to the board. Julie Warner and Jessica Ngo were injured and Megan Bevine did not return from break. According to the team, the fact that Dartmouth rested for this meet is a good sign for the Quakers. It shows that other teams in the Ivies are beginning to recognize Penn's improvement. "It's a compliment in a lot of ways," Schnur said. "Last year we didn't beat anybody in the league and nobody had to prepare for us. This year teams are shaving to make sure to beat us. It's a compliment that they have to prepare that much for us." Lawlor-Gilbert agreed. "Its important for our women to recognize that they are being recognized by other teams," she said. "We swam tough. They remained really competitive throughout and really went after Dartmouth in every event and grabbed points in where they could grab points. Some people who trained really hard still swam really hard and that shows toughness. I like that."