Quakers cough up Garnet in relays

Penn and Swarthmore showed up with sick teams for a relay meet. In a meet dubbed "The Battle of the Sick Teams" by Penn coach Kathy Lawlor-Gilbert, the Quakers men's swimming team looked plenty healthy in dominating Swarthmore last night, 192-138. Except for the Garnet's victory in the 200-yard medley relay, every Penn team that jumped in the water beat every Swarthmore opponent. The meet was run under an unusual all-relay format suggested by Swarthmore coach Sue Davis. "The relay format is a good break from league competition," Penn co-captain Jeff Brown said. "Overall, it's a chance to get a break from the intensity of [league competition]." The Quakers returned to form after suffering various sicknesses, ranging from the flu to mononucleosis, before Thanksgiving break. "They are such a nice squad with such a nice coach," Lawlor-Gilbert said. "It's fun. Half of their team is sick too, so it's not a rewarding domination. What is really fun is getting an opportunity to swim different guys in different events." The highlight of the lackluster competition came when Penn's Mark Spenner continued his three-year-old rivalry with teammate Bobby Brown in the opening 50-yard leg of the 500-crescendo relay. In a rivalry described by Jeff Brown as "two guys who just like to talk some trash and swim the 50," the two Quakers brought both squads to their feet in a cheering frenzy. Spenner narrowly won the duel in a rare moment of actual competition. The sprint propelled the two Penn squads to dominating victories over the Swarthmore entry. Both teams lapped the Garnet team. Spenner's victory over Brown led the lane 1 foursome of Spenner, Matt Reilly, Ken Fletcher and Kevin Reilly to victory in a time of 4:42. Swarthmore's lone moment of glory came in the 200 medley relay. The team of Christopher Seamen, Fred Gerson, Brandon Walsh and Carl Sanders outkicked both of Penn's entries to win in 1:44.75. While the Quakers swimmers feasted on the Garnet the way sharks feast on baby seals, Lawlor-Gilbert was using split times to prepare her lineup for Saturday's Colgate Invitational. "We are checking for the travel spots and will decide most tonight after looking at the results," Lawlor-Gilbert said. "Some of the focus was being able to swim and see how sick some of them still are. It would have been ideal to use tonight as a tune-up for Saturday, but it is less of a tune-up and more of an endurance test. Not as many guys can take advantage of the opportunity tonight." The Quakers also used the uncompetitive evening to let swimmers try events they normally don't get to compete in. "It's good to give some people an opportunity to swim stuff they don't normally swim," Jeff Brown said. "Some of the guys who finish third or fourth in league get to get out and win here. So it is a lot of fun."

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