M. Swimming sinks to bottom at Easterns

With 810.50 points, Harvard earns the Eastern championship. Penn has never claimed to be a powerhouse in the world of swimming and diving. The results of the 1998 Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League championships only confirm this idea. The Quakers finished last among the 10 teams competing, which include all eight Ivy League schools plus Army and Navy. Harvard was the league champion with 810.50 points. Despite finishing with only 140 points in the three-day meet held March 5-7 at Army, Penn (4-7, 3-7 EISL) was not disappointed with its performance. "To place high, you must have guys that can place in the top five or six," Quakers assistant coach Mike Schnur said. "We knew we didn't have that type of talent." Knowing that this team was not as deep or as talented as last year's squad, Penn relied on its youth at Easterns. In fact, 13 of the 17 Penn Eastern qualifiers were freshmen or sophomores. "We actually graduated more points last year than we scored this year," Schnur said. That type of talent was something that the Quakers did possess last year in the form of Jeff Brown. Brown, a two-time NCAA qualifier and three-time Eastern champion, was named co-swimmer of last year's meet, scoring 56 points. The loss of Brown to graduation was definitely felt this year as the Quakers struggled through the regular season. His importance to the team was also reflected in Penn's drop to 10th place at Easterns from last year's sixth. Despite Penn's final point total, the team was excited with several performances. Junior Paul Poggi cut nearly six seconds off his best time in the 200 yard freestyle, and freshman Blake Martin swam a lifetime best and nearly qualified for finals in the 1,650 yard freestyle. Also, the 800 relay team of Poggi, Matt Reilly, Craig Nelson and Nick Sheremeta qualified to the finals and was Penn's highest scoring relay. Another standout swimmer was senior Colin Robinson, who, as the team captain, has been an inspirational leader and important point scorer throughout the season. "Colin swam 1:55 in the 200 fly for three years, and, as a senior, he finally broke through and swam 1:54," Schnur said. "It was great to see him end his career with the best swim of his life." Although most swimmers were pleased with their performances, there was one diver who was not. Sophomore Kyle Goldbacher, who Schnur described as the best diver Penn has had in 20 years, was unable to repeat last season's performance where he finished sixth in the three meter event. Goldbacher did not qualifying for the finals in either diving event this year. As a freshman, Goldbacher made Penn history by advancing to Eastern finals. This year, he finished ninth in one-meter diving and eleventh in the three-meter event. "I was definitely disappointed, but I felt it was an accurate reflection of the entire season," Goldbacher said. "I struggled throughout the whole season." Goldbacher felt that the new computer scoring system, which was designed to speed up the events, actually slowed them down. "I dove like crap," Goldbacher said. "I dove as poorly as I could after diving for 10 years. This is in no way an excuse, but I couldn't relax with a 10 or 15 minute break between dives." Goldbacher also believes that his diving trouble could be attributed to his inability to train in the off season. In order to remain at Penn, he took a course and worked over the summer. Without much time to train, Goldbacher did not take one dive from last year's Easterns until the first day of practice this season. He will have to do the same over this off-season, so his prospects for next year are uncertain. "I have a lot of thinking to do. If I don't train, God knows I don't want to go through this again next year," Goldbacher said. "There is a question over whether I will dive next year." With Robinson being the only significant loss to graduation this year, most of Penn's team will be back and more experienced next year. They will probably not be able to compete with the Eastern elite, but a repeat dead last finish is unlikely. If Goldbacher, a former high school All-American, does not return next year, though, the Quakers may find themselves in the same position again.

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