Big Red only makes small splash at Sheerr Pool

The M. Swimming team's 130-113 victory was the first time the seniors opened the season with a win. With the help of excited fans and exuberant teammates, the Penn men's swim team defeated Cornell, 130-113, on Saturday in a win that was very important to the team For the seniors, the win was personal. They had never started the season with a win, and a narrow loss to Cornell last year was the closest they had ever come to beating the team. "It was a long time coming for us," senior Jon Levine said. "We finally got the monkey off our back." For the freshmen, the win meant a great start to their collegiate career, something their other teammates did not have. "It is important for them to start off with a positive start, it really gets the right momentum," Levine said. The dual meet was not a sure win from the beginning. As assistant coach Mike Schnur said: "Cornell swam very well, we didn't beat a bunch of stiffs." The score flip-flopped throughout the events until freshman diver Kyle Goldbacher took the stage, taking first place in both the one-meter and three-meter boards. "It was exciting to be contributing to the team with points, to be contributing to something worthwhile," Goldbacher said, whose previous competitions included the Junior Olympics. After Goldbacher's dives, the momentum completely shifted to the Quakers. The second half domination was led by senior Jeff Brown, but it was through the efforts of the entire team that led to the final score of 130-113. Penn took first place in all but one of the second-half events. "There were a lot of clutch wins, guys who came through big by moving up and beating guys they normally wouldn't have, getting second and third," co-captain Colin Robinson said. Two of the surprise performances were executed by senior Jon Levine and freshman Jon Maslow. They captured first and second, respectively, in the 100-meter freestyle. Maslow also placed third in the 50-meter free, and Levine anchored the winning 400-meter free relay. However, Levine was quick to point out that by the time it was his turn to swim, the win had already been secured by teammates. Maslow, Ken Fletcher, Brian Cohen all had perfect races and No. 1 finishes in their individual events as well. "It was a total team effort. Cornell doesn't get shaken, so we had to be prepared and be tough," Penn coach Kathy Lawlor Gilbert said. "We set out to beat them and we did."