Quakers are rested, tapered for Easterns

Today marks the start of the Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League championship meet for the Penn women's swimming team. And one word comes to mind about this team -- young. This Quakers team boasts 11 freshmen. But never mind that. According to Penn assistant coach Mike Schnur, age should not make a difference once they are in the water at the Brown facility. "There's a lot pressure involved, this is your championship meet," he said. "And since we're going with an almost all freshman team, it's going to be interesting to see how they react to that. They could either get so pumped that they swim incredibly well, or they can be a little nervous and it can take them a little time to get into the meet." Senior captain Alison Zegar agreed. "I don't think [the age of the team] will make a difference because they're all going to be excited," she said. "They've been in big meets like this before, so its not like its a brand new experience. Its not like this is just popping up on them. They're just excited to swim." One big advantage that the freshmen definitely give to the Quakers is size. Penn will compete with a full 18 swimmers -- the most allowed at Easterns. Last year they only brought 12. "Its going to be a big boost having a full team," Schnur said. "It will be more exciting. We'll be in the meet, we'll feel like we're a part of it." The meet is divided up into three days. The first day the divers hit the water, and the last two it will be the swimmers' turn. But Penn won't start competing until Thursday because the already small diving squad did not travel up to Providence, R.I., with the rest of the team. Injuries and sickness prevented them from participating at Easterns. "Our diving coach felt that they weren't properly prepared for the meet," Schnur said. "It would have been a difficult experience for them." Still, the Quakers expect to make a big splash when they do start to race. Each day of competition starts with qualifying trials at 10 a.m. Places one through 14 race at 5 p.m. for points. Last year only Zegar made it to finals. This time around the Quakers expect to have four or five more swimmers qualify for the five o'clock start. And Penn also expects its relay teams to have a better showing. Better performances mean more points. More points could add up to a good overall finish. "Last year we didn't beat anybody," Schnur said. "This year I think one of our goals would be to definitely not finish last, to knock off some teams. I think we're definitely capable of doing that." A most important thing working in the Quaker's favor is increased confidence. Penn ended its season with a win in three of the last four meets. This feeling of victory should help carry the Quakers through the water. "I expect us to continue the good quality swimming that they have begun in the last three weeks," Schnur said. "The army meet was probably the best meet we swam since Columbia and we'd like to continue that." Performing well at Easterns has been Penn's focus for the second half of the season. The Quakers trained vigorously for the past three months, not even stopping to rest for dual-meet competitions. But Penn is shaved and tapered for Thursday's meet. "The training definitely needed to be done, but we've tapered enough so that we're rested and ready to go," Zegar said. Experience or no experience, the Quakers are ready to dive in.