Brown, Spenner rivalry heats up

Matt Biondi and Tom Jager. Pablo Morales and Michael Gross. Bobby Brown and Mark Spenner. Brown and Spenner? Okay, so maybe their rivalry doesn't really belong with some of the greatest of all time. They only race each other once a year. Three hundred and sixty-four days of the year they are really good friends. Actually, they are teammates. But today none of this matters. When Penn junior Bobby Brown prepares to take on sophomore Mark Spenner in the 50-yard freestyle tonight, he will have only one thing on his mind. Revenge. Last year, when Swarthmore visited Penn, the two Quakers were stacked against each other in the same race. Breaststroke specialist Brown led for most of the sprint, only to be passed by Spenner in the last 10 meters. "He thought he had it wrapped up," Spenner said. "He didn't even see me." Tonight when the Quakers visit Swarthmore at 5:30 p.m., Brown and Spenner will have their rematch. "It'll take more than a taper for Spenner to beat me," Brown said. "He could have an outboard motor strapped to his back, and he would still need binoculars to see me in the end. He'll come to know the agony and humiliation of a defeat he has not felt heretofore in his lifetime." Brown carries the advantage of having raced at Swarthmore before. But Spenner, who raced the 50 freestyle as recently as last Saturday, feels his familiarity with the event will put him ahead. "I don't want to hurt his feelings beforehand, because they'll be hurt bad enough when we climb out of the pool," Spenner said. "I hope he swims well, but I tell you, I'm going to reel him in, just like I did last year." With the end of season looming on the horizon, the Penn coaches elected to use the women's format for today's meet, which will allow the stroke specialists to practice racing the 100-yard sprint events they will enter at the Eastern Championships. They will race 200-yard relays instead of the usual 400-yard races, and the 1,000 freestyle will be replaced by the 400 individual medley. The Quakers (5-3, 4-3 EISL), who thrashed Johns Hopkins on Saturday, 178-117, are the heavy favorites today. Although the Garnet (7-3) have amassed seven victories this season, all of the wins have come against Division III opponents. The Garnet, also a Division III program, were blown away by the Blue Jays, 132-61, just last week. "Although the women are usually always strong, the quality of the men swimmers varies from year to year," Penn coach Kathy Lawlor-Gilbert said. "This year, the men aren't as strong as they've been in the past. However, the Swarthmore coach is using this meet to try to qualify some people for the Division III NCAA Championships, so there will be quality races." Lawlor-Gilbert plans to enter many of her swimmers in events they usually do not get to swim. The meet will be an opportunity for some of the Quakers to try to make Lawlor-Gilbert's short-list of swimmers making the trip to Easterns in four weeks. "The second-line guys can try and win some of the events they usually don't race in, and the top-line guys can try other events," Lawlor Gilbert said. "It'll give everybody and opportunity to swim different events. It'll be a relaxed atmosphere." Not if Brown and Spenner can help it.