M. Swimming skins cats of Columbia

The Quakers also picked up a victory over Division III power John Hopkins Proving that cats really can't swim, the Quakers left the Columbia Lions clinging to life preservers in a 147-97 win to cap off a busy weekend for the Penn men's swimming team. Led in part by the resurgence of the diving team, Penn added to Saturday's important league win by getting past Johns Hopkins 136-107 in a home meet at Sheerr Pool on Friday. Freshman diver Kyle Goldbacher, saddled with the pressure of leading a young Quakers diving squad that has had a large impact on the success of the team, won both the one-meter and three-meter events on Friday and Saturday. The key victory, though, was his first one. Goldbacher's and sophomore Matt Gries' one-two finish in the one-meter event against Division III powerhouse John Hopkins moved Penn from a 45-48 deficit to a 58-54 lead which the Quakers never relinquished, pulling away to a 136-107 win. The diving wins were especially important because Penn was without the services of senior co-captain Jeff Brown, who, due to illness, swam only in the 200-yard medley relay. "Diving is two events, and they are important, but so are other events," Penn coach Kathy Lawlor-Gilbert said. "Goldbacher and Gries did a fabulous job up at Columbia. Everyone rose to the occasion, swimmers and divers, up at Columbia, and it's really nice to see that happen. "It's nice for [the divers] and for the team," Quakers junior co-captain Colin Robinson said. "They were very consistent and they did a great job up at Columbia." The Quakers also used the busy weekend to show off their dominance in the freestyle races. Against Columbia on Saturday, Penn swimmers were first in four of five individual freestyle events and were a close second in the fifth. A day removed from illness, Brown came up with his usual dominating performance by posting wins in the 1,000- and 500-yard freestyle. Sophomore Ryan Kafer also demonstrated his strength during commanding victories in the 100- and 200-yard free. "Ryan is one of the most talented swimmers in the league," Robinson said. "More importantly he is a great teammate and a good guy for the team to have around. Jeff wins whatever we need him to win -- that's the bottom line. He does whatever the coaches need." Adding in the victory in the 400-yard free relay and their near perfect record in the freestyle races against Hopkins a day earlier, the Quakers showed that there is nearly no hope of competing with them in the freestyle events. Often overshadowed by his all-league freestyle teammates, Penn freshman Matt Reilly is showing that he too is a near guaranteed winner whenever he enters the pool in his specialty, the 200-yard backstroke. He won twice more over the weekend, both times by more than a second. The biggest non-factor of the weekend turned out to be the stress of racing on two consecutive days. Except for resting some of the swimmers on Friday in anticipation of Saturday, neither the swimmers nor the coaches felt it had any effect on their speed in the pool. "I think attitude is everything," Lawlor-Gilbert said. "Another team might make a big deal out of it. Training as hard as they do should prepare you for that." Calling the weekend, "an excellent sign of where we are," Robinson and the Quakers swim team have posted a 4-1 record since winter break and are building up confidence for the final meets of the season.

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