Navy's divers torpedo M. Swimming

The Quakers took the swimming part of the meet, but Navy's experienced divers won the meet for the visitors. It was a tale of two teams for Penn's men's swimming team on Saturday at Sheerr Pool where it nearly knocked off a strong Navy squad. The Quakers (4-2) surprised the Midshipmen (8-2) by winning the swimming portion of the meet, but Navy's trio of divers saved the visitors by sweeping both diving events. It was the diving squad which saved the sinking ship that was the Navy swim team. Penn finished first in seven of 11 swim events, and earned more points in eight of the 11 races. Nevertheless, Bay Dobbins' two first-place finishes led Navy's sweep of the top three spots in each of the diving events. The Midshipmen's diving domination more than made up for Penn's swimming advantage. "The main result of sweeping was helping to get the swimmers motivated," Navy diver Anthony Toriello said. "That's part of our job, not only to perform well. It helps the swimmers being able to know that diving is a sure thing. We're always first if it's not a sweep." Penn's swimmers had nothing to be disappointed about despite coming out on the losing end of a 128-115 final. The Quakers came through with their finest performance of the year against one of their toughest opponents. "We didn't think it would be this close," Navy assistant-coach Kristen LeClair said. "We knew they wanted to beat us, but we didn't think it would come down to the last two events. Every point and every event counts. [The Quakers] seem to rise to the occasion -- that's for sure." Penn's young squad of divers did not perform badly, but inconsistencies and a couple of spectacular crashed entries hurt their scores against older and more-composed Navy. "I couldn't relax myself. I tensed up," Penn freshman diver Kyle Goldbacher said. "Believe it or not, my dives were improving. They were closer to the board. None of them were at peak performance. I have a lot of training ahead of me. I came off looking sloppy." After being swept in the one-meter diving, Penn's swimmers fought back by winning the next four races. The wins brought Penn from 14 points behind to four points ahead. Another sweep by Navy in the three-meter diving, including outstanding ripped entries by Dobbins on his final two dives, pumped up the Navy team. The diving win, and the chorus of "Go, Mighty Navy" from on-looking teammates, propelled Navy to a one-two finish in the 200-breaststroke, which clinched the victory. After the meet there were relieved faces from the Navy side, and a mix of satisfaction and frustration from the Quakers side. "I'm happy with almost the entire team. We competed well," Penn coach Kathy Lawlor-Gilbert said. "They tried to beat a team that is much stronger. They rose to the challenge and did everything they could. "One of the drawbacks was our inability to crack their diving squad -- also a couple of touch-outs. We are progressing through the season the way we should. I'm upset. I wanted us to win. I thought the strategy was right on." Many strong individual performances by Penn swimmers can also be used as confidence builders as league championships grow closer. In his first meet of the year, Quakers sophomore Ryan Kafer won the 100-freestyle, finished second in the 50-freestyle and anchored Penn's winning 400-yard freestyle relay. Penn senior co-captain Jeff Brown swam a different schedule of events than his usual 200-yard freestyle, but still came away with wins in both the 500- and 1000-freestyle. Ken Fletcher also swam an excellent meet and posted a win in the 200-butterfly and a second in the 200-freestyle. "Fletcher did a fabulous job in this meet," Lawlor-Gilbert said. "Most of the guys swam their best times unshaved. I don't think a whole lot of people know how hard these guys work. They believe in themselves and in the program, and I think that helps. This is a tough Navy squad." Saturday's meet highlighted the continued improvement of the Quakers swimmers, but also highlighted the difficulty that the team will have in winning meets if the divers remain inconsistent. A week ago, it was Penn's divers who shined at Brown and sealed the victory, but this week Navy showed that its diving superiority is key to their continued league success.

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