Young W. Swimming wants rare win at Navy

The Penn women's swim team is eagerly anticipating tomorrow's meet at Navy as an opportunity to turn around what has been an often frustrating season. The Quakers (1-5), however, have been improving throughout the year and hope the frequent positive signs will translate into a better win-loss record. "We are going down to Navy in what should be a very evenly matched meet," Penn coach Kathy Lawlor-Gilbert said. "I am really pleased with the grit and determination of this team. It can be difficult to lose so many close meets, but we are really competing well right now." The Quakers have the largest underclass of any women's swim team in school history. With 26 freshmen and sophomores, it would seem to be difficult to receive the solid leadership needed to help a struggling team remain optimistic. Fortunately, this has not been a problem for Penn this year. "Co-captains Christie Meyer and Lauren Hibbert have provided great leadership this season," Lawlor-Gilbert said. "It's not really hard to keep the team's spirits up, because everyone is swimming well. If we were competing poorly and losing our meets, it would be devastating." Despite the losses, the team has been competitive in almost every meet this season, in contrast to previous years. "I remember last year we got killed by Army by something like 150 points," assistant coach Michael Schnur said. "This year, we lost to them in a very close meet." Such improvement doesn't necessarily help the record, but it certainly bodes well for the future of a Penn team which is expecting another significant recruiting class next year. "A lot of times you hear a coach say, 'We're in the middle of a building year,' but that really describes our situation right now," Lawlor-Gilbert said. "We have so many young swimmers who are showing improvement that it really makes our team outlook look good." After being coach of Penn swim teams for fifteen years, Lawlor-Gilbert is able to compare her current swimmers with those of past years. She notices many similarities between this team and one which she coached earlier this decade. That team struggled for a few years before surprising the Ivy League with a nucleus of talented young swimmers. The same situation seems to be present this year. "That team really jumped out and became a force, pretty much out of nowhere, and I see us about ready to do that now," said Lawlor-Gilbert. Things appear to be staying positive for the women's swim team. The team's leaders are speaking up, the younger swimmers are showing great improvement, and the head coach has nothing but complimentary things to say about her team. However, the best way to keep a team happy is to win, and the women's swim team is poised to do just that this Saturday at Navy.