Penn surprised by Bears' undying effort

Swim teams usually alter their lineup when blowing out opponents. The Penn women's swimming team was blown out of the water by Brown last Saturday, 230-65. The Quakers were surprised because Brown did not alter its line-up after achieving a substantial lead, but rather swam to the best of their ability. Aware that the Bears would soundly defeat the Quakers, Penn coach Kathy Lawlor-Gilbert wanted the team to use this meet as a learning experience. The swimmers were encouraged to take it out strong to determine how far they are in their training. Additionally, many swimmers competed in new events both for fun and in hopes that they could swim a third event at Easterns. Sophomore backstroker Lauren Ballough did not swim because of a shoulder injury and both freshmen diver Ruthie Rowbotham and sophomore breaststroker Lauren Wald were sick. The illnesses and change in line-up may have cost the Quakers some points in individual events, but even without those difficulties, Penn could not have won the meet. Earlier in the season the Red and Blue had lost to both Yale -- a contender with Brown for top honors at Easterns -- and Harvard, who along with Princeton, is favored to some as a close second. Although Penn was not surprised by the outcome, they were disconcerted by the actions of the other team. Coaches and athletes alike expect that teams who are winning will back off once they establish a significant lead. The competitors, more than anyone else, should appreciate the efforts of the athletes no matter what their ability. Brown, however, showed little respect for the Quakers. They consistently kept the pressure on and the score rising. "The women handled themselves very well in the face of such belittlement and competition," Lawlor-Gilbert said. "They showed their faith in themselves and in their work." Although Brown consistently took the first three places in both swimming and diving, Penn never let up. Rowbatham had slight difficulty with the 3-meter dive, but she performed well on the 1-meter. In order to be successful, the Quakers must not only be skilled and fast, but they must be tough and have their heads on straight. Last weekend's performance proved that the Quakers have mastered the latter two, and need only to continue the upward trend in bettering their individual events. "They [Brown] are a strong team and our whole team was tired. But despite these two obvious obstacles I feel that it was a good opportunity for our team to display grit and tenacity," freshman Jamie Taylor said. "Personally, I feel that no matter what, to be successful in the long run, I just have to keep swimming the races as tough as I can no matter how tired I am. I think this holds true for our entire team." Lawlor-Gilbert considers the women on this year's team to be the building blocks that a coach needs to have a strong team. "They are really a together team as far as attitude," Lawlor-Gilbert said. "It's especially tough to keep it up when their efforts are not met with a winning record, but they are still rising up to meet the challenge and will eventually prevail."

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