W. Swimming falls to national power Princeton

The inexperienced Quakers lost to a team expected to challenge for the Eastern title. The inexperienced Quakers lost to a team expected to challenge for the Eastern title.Compiled by DP sports staff Christine Meyer, Penn's junior co-captain who specializes in the breast stroke, was pleased with the gutsy performance that Penn displayed. "The team performed very well," Meyer said. "We've been training through all of our meets. People are swimming a lot better than they thought it would be." Penn coach Kathy Lawlor-Gilbert admitted before the match that the team did not have a realistic chance at winning. "We have our hands full in terms of the outcome," she said, adding that she would use the match as a "learning experience." Princeton came into the match with 40 women on their roster, which is twice as many as Penn. The Tigers are expected to lead the Eastern conference once again. But Meyer said that Princeton's accolades served as motivation. "Psychologically, Princeton's national standings didn't hurt anyone's psyche on the team -- we were just ready to swim fast," Meyer said. "When you have good competition, it's a great chance to swim against the best. You can use this as an opportunity to swim your best, and many of our swimmers did." Penn enters the Thanksgiving break with an 0-2 record, both Ivy losses. The Quakers will attempt to improve on that mark against Swarthmore next Monday.