W. Swimming hopes to make its first Ivy Splash

The Quakers believe its continual rebuilding process is approximately two years behind their male counterparts. Over the last few years, the Penn women's swimming team has not had an impressive record. In fact, no one on the Quakers squad has ever been on the winning end of an Ivy League meet. How have the Quakers fallen from their status as a swimming powerhouse in the not-too-distant past? "Since my freshman year we've been rebuilding," Penn co-captain Christy Meyer said. "We've come a long way since then. We've recruited girls who really want to swim and in the last two years the team has grown from nine [members] to 24." Indeed, prior to that, there had been many Penn swimmers who were unsatisfied with the program and who consistently threw around blame for the Quakers' poor record. Such pervasive negativity eventually influenced the team as a whole, and made it difficult for the swimmers to focus on their swimming. In the fall of 1994, the dissenters had decided that they no longer wished to be a part of the team. The remaining swimmers decided that it was their job to make the team good again. As the team of dedicated swimmers grew in size, the Quakers say that the coaches became more flexible and receptive to suggestions. Everyone has been able to work together as a unit. Penn is also in a very competitive league in which funds, and therefore programs, vary greatly in scope. "Many schools have separate men's and women's programs and have greater support systems around their squads," said Penn coach Kathy Lawlor-Gilbert. "Unfortunately this means that certain teams inevitably fall a step behind and the other coaches take advantage of it." "Some are at a great financial advantage and are thus able to accomplish more," assistant coach Michael Schnur said. "There is a lot of heavy recruiting in the league." Additionally, there is the issue of Title IX. The federal law that states that schools that receive federal funding must have gender-equitable athletic opportunities. Due to suits or complaints of negligence, certain schools are extremely generous in their support of the women's teams. Schnur and Lawlor-Gilbert agree that such situations make their job particularly challenging, but can only carry on and lobby for change. "Rather than singing the blues about what we don't have, I prefer to talk about the girls," Lawlor-Gilbert said. "They're tough, willing to work hard, and have a great mental attitude. It's the best place to be in the [Ivy] League and we can't have it all. But we want it all and we're going to get it all eventually." The Quakers (0-4 Ivy League) will have the opportunity to see how successful this rebuilding has been on Saturday, when they compete against Brown in Providence, R.I. Although the Bears are a superior team, Penn hopes to see that they have closed Brown's edge since last year. "Brown is a huge team with lots of depth," Penn co-captain Kourtney Krom said. "Many of their swimmers are strong in more than just one event. In addition, they have 12 seniors and we have none." Although the Red and Blue stand little chance of beating Brown, individual swimmers will be great competition for the Bears. Lawlor-Gilbert changed the lineup, which will allow the Quakers to have fun with the meet and to earn best times in different events. "We expect them to win," Quakers sophomore Jen Triolo said. "We are racing ourselves and trying to post qualifying times for Easterns." It would be surprising if Penn's women's team could achieve a record like that of Penn's men's squad, which is competitive in the Ivies, overnight. But a gradual improvement is certainly possible -- four years ago they found themselves in the same position as the women. "We're two years behind the guys in rebuilding our program," said Meyer. "That's Jeff Brown's [Penn men's team star] year. So in two more years we could possibly be at their level."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.