M. Swimming opens with Cornell Big Red

The Penn men's swimming team (3-7, 2-5 Ivy League last season) opened last season with a 137-104 loss at Cornell's Teagle Pool. The Quakers hope for a better start this Saturday at noon when Cornell (5-5, 3-4 Ivy) comes to Philadelphia. In Ithaca last November, the Quakers opened strongly, winning four of the first five races, but were unable to seal the victory in the dual meet. It was, however, a good experience-builder for many of the Quakers freshmen. "We pulled some upsets last year going up there," Penn coach Kathy Lawlor-Gilbert said. "We had a first-year guy, Blake Martin, defeat some of their more experienced swimmers. In some events, we swam very well, but we ran into major difficulties in the 200-yard [individual medley]." This time around, the Quakers will send their best swimmers in the 200 IM. Last season, Lawlor-Gilbert was somewhat uneasy about her many first-year swimmers. She expects them to shine as sophomores. "We're definitely going to have sophomores swim the IM this year," Lawlor-Gilbert said. "When they were first-year swimmers, you don't know how they were going to compete under fire." Cornell will not be surprised to see a stronger showing from the Quakers on Saturday. The Big Red comes in with a history of early-season strength. "We just happen to open up against teams that we match up well against," Cornell coach Joe Lucia said. "Penn's got a lot of good swimmers that we have respect for, though. We always have great meets with them. We're good rivals." Lucia's confidence does not come only from past results. Preseason practices in Ithaca have given the Big Red a reason to believe in themselves. "We've had really good practices," Lucia said. "It's been a really good group to work with. They're a hard-working team. That always makes it a little easier for a coach, and a lot more fun in practice." Preseason practices have also been good for the Red and Blue. The Quakers have been working on a lot of technical swimming at Sheerr Pool this fall. "We've been doing starts, turns, technique issues," Lawlor-Gilbert said. "We didn't ease up on the hard work either, because we want to give the team the stamina and strength to endure a long season." Senior Paul Poggi -- who will tri-captain the team with Graham Rigby and Brian Cohen -- will swim the 200-freestyle relay on Saturday afternoon. Poggi has been impressed with his younger teammates so far this fall. "I've been impressed with how they're all working hard. It's a little hard to do week in and week out," Poggi said. "It's always nice to start off with a win, and you just have to train and prepare." After Cornell leaves Sheerr Pool, the Quakers will not have much time to prepare for their next meet. Princeton comes in on Tuesday, boasting a long history of Ivy League success. "Harvard and Princeton are always 1-2. They have been for 30 years," Lucia said. Right now, however, the focus is on Cornell. Penn wants to get revenge for last year, and start off on the right foot. "We may be stronger in the freestyle events," Lawlor-Gilbert said. "Once I say one thing, though, I get the feeling that someone's going to jump up in a stroke event. Prediction is that it's going to be a real, real tough meet."