Final race determines fate of W. Swimming

Holland's heroics were not enough to overcome the Scarlet Knights. The Penn women's swimming team lost the lead and the meet in the final seconds of Saturday's encounter with Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights (2-2) won the 200-yard freestyle relay, the meet's last event, by 0.7 seconds and erased a one-point deficit to win 154-144 at Scheerr Pool. The loss dropped the Quakers record to 1-3 overall. "Its frustrating to lose by so little, especially after practicing so hard," said Penn freshman Cathy Holland. "We just have to try and recover from the loss and improve before the next meet. We swam really tough but they won the meet literally in the last second." Holland, who won the 200 individual medley in two minutes, 11.81 seconds and the 100 breaststroke in 1:10.42, led a host of Penn swimmers who captured first place in their respective events. Fellow freshman Linda Yeh took the 100 backstroke in 1:02.67, finishing just 0.01 seconds ahead of teammate Kelly James. In the freestyle events, Penn got wins from Caroline Shipps and Jamie Taylor, who won the 50 and 200 yard freestyle events in times of 25.4 seconds and 1:59.40, respectively. Despite all the first place finishes, Penn came up inches short in distance and less than a second short in time. Both coaches were very happy with the effort and commitment, but neither could explain the reasons behind the determining race. "There's really nothing you can do in situations like that," said assistant coach Mike Schnur. "The girls gave it their best and just got edged out at the end. They practiced very hard for the past two weeks during the double sessions we ran and that is really what Coach [Kathy Lawlor-Gilbert] and I are proud of." Since December 31, the Quakers have been practicing four hours a day, which is double the normal time, to prepare for the remainder of the season. "We are really happy with this team," Lawlor-Gilbert said. "They swam very well and they practiced very hard. They may have lost today but they will bounce back from this." The Quakers will have the whole week to regroup before facing two formidable opponents this weekend on consecutive days. On Friday, the Red and Blue will host Army (3-2, 0-2) at 4 p.m. Less than 24 hours later, Penn's endurance will be tested against preseason Ivy title favorite Brown (2-0, 2-0). In early December, the Quakers placed second out of nine teams at the two-day-long La Salle Invitational. That was the only real endurance test the team has faced all season and they responded well. The two meets this weekend, however, are dual meets, where coming in second as a team is as good as coming in last.