Quakers' attitude 'tough' in blowout

Penn predictably downed byPenn predictably downed byBears, but keep heads up The Penn women's swimming team is not No. 1 in the Ivy League. As a matter of fact, it is quite a few strokes behind the entire league. But watching looks on the Quakers' faces, even as Brown easily handled them Saturday, 189-101, things appeared to be the other way around. "They have a very tough attitude," visiting Penn assistant coach Mark Hjelle said. "They don't care who is in the water, they swim 100 percent every time." Before the Quakers even took their warm-up laps, they knew the Bears were a rising force in the Ancient Eight. A deep team with many returning swimmers, Brown had already defeated perennial Ivy powerhouse Princeton. "It can be hard when you go into a meet and know you will be swamped," Penn coach Kathy Lawlor-Gilbert said. "You can hide behind it and say, 'Well, what does she expect? We can't win.' But that attitude doesn't exist at all on this team." According to Lawlor-Gilbert, Penn took on a different strategy than usual for this meet. "We decided that since Brown is so deep and strong in all the events and diving, and we knew the outcome, to turn it into a great personal challenge. "We tried to get them to reach down deep and pull out really good performances, even though they were tired and not totally psyched because of the dominant force on the other side. And they really raced well. The women really rose to the challenge." Indeed, without shaving or resting before the meet, many people swam very close to their best times. Lauren Ballough broke her personal record in the 100-yard backstroke. Christy Meyer raced her best time in the 200 breast. Naomi Stoller performed well in the diving events, especially since she was the only Quaker to climb up to the board because the two other divers, Jessica Ngo and Julie Warner, were both injured. "I'm really extra proud of our diver who faced a really strong Brown diving team and managed to place third out of four in the three-meter dive," Lawlor-Gilbert said. "This squad is establishing a new team memory," Lawlor-Gilbert added. "What they're establishing in that memory is toughness, attack in all the races and 100 percent all the way in everything."