Quakers blow by Swarthmore

Zamborsky, freshmenZamborsky, freshmenlead Penn to victory The 50-yard freestyle race at yesterday's Penn-Swarthmore dual meet had been hyped all week as a battle between two Quakers -- sophomore Mark Spenner and junior Bobby Brown. But Quakers junior Eric Zamborsky ignored the hype and stole the show. Zamborsky defeated both Brown and Spenner to capture first place in Penn's 165-99 win over the Garnet. Spenner finished second behind Zamborsky, beating Brown to the wall for the second straight year. "It was a great race," Spenner said. "We went 1-2-3, and everyone swam their lifetime bests or close to it." Brown had another chance to top Spenner in the 100 freestyle, and the junior took full advantage of the opportunity, exacting his revenge. Although Brown beat Spenner, a first-place finish again eluded him, as Penn freshman Paul Poggi pounded both of them. The Quakers freshmen grabbed the spotlight against Division III Swarthmore (7-4). Poggi also took first place in the 100 butterfly, while rookie Dennis Moore played the part of team captain Jeff Brown -- achieving a Brown-like hat trick -- winning the 200 and 500 freestyles, and the 200 butterfly. Rudy Chung blew away his competition in the 400 individual medley. Chung also swam the 200 individual medley and the 500 freestyle.The Quakers (6-3) captured 15 of the 17 swimming events. "Even though a few of our top swimmers weren't there, we were confident that we would win the meet," Penn sophomore Patrick Danner said. "But it was reassuring to see that we could step it up when we had to and get the job done." "Normally we have swimmers like Jeff Brown and Ken Fletcher in the 200 fly," Danner said. "Today they weren't there, but we were still able to pull off first and second in that event. We showed we can pull off wins as individuals." Several of the Quakers' top performers were unable to compete yesterday, because of league regulations. The Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League stipulates that athletes are only allowed to compete in a set number of meets each season, so the swimmers who competed in the La Salle Invitational in December had to sit out the Swarthmore meet. Many younger swimmers got a chance to compete in events usually reserved for the team veterans. Swarthmore does not have the same talent or facilities as most of the other teams Penn faces during the season. They don't even have any diving boards. But what the Garnet had was tenacity. "They were tough competitors," Danner said. "It's hard for a Division III team to compete against a Division I program, but it didn't keep them from challenging us."