W. Swimming hangs around with elite Navy

Going in to Saturday's meet, the Penn women's swimming team knew some things about Navy. The Quakers knew that the Midshipwomen had a team twice their size. They understood that Navy had swam close meets with powerhouse teams like North Carolina and Connecticut. Penn had a hunch that the Midshipwomen were rested. And the Quakers were quite aware that their opponent were strong in diving. In short, Penn knew it was not going to be pretty. But, believe it or not, when the Quakers took on Navy at Sheerr Pool, it was not all that ugly -- especially compared to previous years. The Midshipwomen still won, but the score was a respectable 174.5-120.5, considerably closer than last year's 201-86 blowout. "It's a wide gap to close, but we're getting there," Penn coach Kathy Lawlor-Gilbert. "I haven't seen these ladies let down yet. They keep on knocking on the door, and one of these days they're going to get it. I don't know when, but they're going to get it." Individually, some people have already been getting it. Senior Stephanie Reiter, who took off her junior year to work, set a personal record Saturday. When she rejoined the team this year, her goal was to break 11 minutes in the 1,000-yard freestyle. She finished with a time of 10 minutes, 57 seconds against Navy, which, according to Lawlor-Gilbert is her lifetime best. Reiter has missed some practices because of job interviews. But according to Lawlor-Gilbert, when Reiter returned she would train harder to make up for lost time. "I think she is a great example of what we, the coaches, always push for," Lawlor-Gilbert said. "She, to me, is the absolute breathing example of what we strive for. She epitomizes what we strive for in the program, and that is a never-say-die attitude." Other Quakers also performed well. Sophomore Naomi Stoller was finally joined by another teammate on the diving board after a few weeks of hitting the water alone. Jessica Ngo competed with Stoller in the 1-meter dive after recovering from an ear problem. But Stoller was still the only Quaker to climb up to the 3-meter board. "Naomi, in the last two outings, has done exceedingly well," Lawlor-Gilbert said. Lawlor-Gilbert was happy with the way her team swam. "We were denied. And none of the coaches, none of the swimmers like losing, obviously. But we have this sense of building a real strong nucleus and attitude for the rest of the season and then for the future."