M. Swimming meet comes down to the final point against the Cadets

The Penn men's swimming team was dominated by Brown but nearly stole their match with Army. Last year Penn men's swimming team lost to Army on the final relay of the competition. Last Saturday at Scheerr Pool, history repeated itself as Army defeated Penn 122-121, clinching the win on the final relay. Penn (2-4, 1-4 EISL) also lost to Brown 177-65 as the Quakers competed in their first and only three team dual meet of the season. Although Penn matched-up against both Brown and Army, the match with the Cadets was its main focus in preparing for the meet. "Brown probably had rest and is a very talented team," Coach Kathy Lawlor-Gilbert said. "We are closer to Army in terms of talent and in terms of match-ups, and they always seem to bring out the best in us," Captain Colin Robinson said. Robinson also noted that last year's loss put the focus on the Cadets. The races between the Quakers and the Cadets were close throughout the day with many matches decided by hundredths of a second. Despite placing first in six of 10 events, the Quakers' standing in the competition was decided on the final race of the day, the 400 medley relay. By the second leg, Army had pulled out in front. Penn made a last dash to catch up in the final hundred, but the Cadets nevertheless won by over a second. "We could have won a hundred different ways, and instead we lost a hundred different ways, and that's really tough to deal with," Robinson said. Lawlor-Gilbert agreed with Robinson, stating, "when you lose by one point, it's team-wide." Standout swimmers included Robinson, who placed first in both the 200 individual medley and 200 butterfly and third in the 200 breast event. The 400 free relay team of Jon Maslow, Brian Barone, Craig Nelson and Paul Poggi placed first. Senior Rob Hassett also swam well, placing first in the 200 breast stroke. Maslow placed second in the 100 freestyle race, missing first by six tenths of a second. Assistant coach Michael Schnur believes that losses in the close races such as Maslow's have a big impact. "If you change two or three tenths of a second, it's a 30 point blow-out for us," Schnur said Lawlor-Gilbert believes that despite losing many races by small margins, those matches boosted team spirit. She mentioned freshman Blake Martin's comeback in the 1000 freestyle race to place second as a factor that raised morale. "Although everybody swims in their own events, performances like that give the team a 'yes I can' attitude," Lawlor-Gilbert said. In the diving competition, Penn's Kyle Goldbacher placed first in the one meter diving and second in the three meter diving. Penn's next meet is this Saturday at Navy, another talented team. Robinson said he believes that the Quakers always swim well against Navy, but they have a very talented diving squad. "We look forward to a hard-fought effort, which this team gives every week," Robinson said. Lawlor-Gilbert is a little more skeptical about the upcoming competition. "Navy is stronger than we are. We're going to swim them straight-up, but we're going to have our hands full," she said.

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