W. Swimming hosts Big Red in season opener at Gimbel

Last season the Penn women's swimming team opened at Cornell with a young squad featuring ten freshmen. On Saturday, when Cornell comes to Sheerr Pool for a dual meet at 3:30 p.m., the Quakers will prove even younger. The 35-woman team has 15 freshmen in addition to six returning sophomores. But surprisingly, they are the more veteran of the two squads. The Big Red bring an incredible twenty freshmen to the starting blocks on Saturday. Cornell will also have a newcomer outside of the pool. Coach Marrie Neumer, who was an assistant last year at Buffalo, was hired by to take the reigns at the end of September. This meant that the coach-less Big Red had to spend its first month of preseason training alone under the guidance of only their captains. "It was difficult for them, but they did it as well as they could," Neumer said. "The team bonded very well, I think, probably more than they may have with a coach because they had to stick together, not really having that kind of an authority. They had to rely on each other." Neumer's arrival at Cornell stands in stark contrast to the longevity of Penn coach Kathy Lawlor-Gilbert, who is entering her 22nd season with the women's team, and assistant coach Michael Schnur, who has logged seven years at poolside. "I don't know how [having a new coach] will effect them. They may not be aware of our strengths, and they may overlook us," Schnur said. "But they have a lot of juniors and seniors who should be able to know where our good kids are. They'll be prepared. They're not going to rollover and let us win." While the Quakers are mostly concerned with their own swimming, they also hope to avenge last year's 159-118 loss in Ithaca. "In the past four or five years Cornell has been a lot stronger than us. They've been a better team. This year that's not the case," Schnur said. "For us to win we've just got to be a little more aggressive. We do have a bit of a grudge to settle." Penn's freshmen, though, are not too concerned with grudges. Their sole focus lies in finally getting their first season underway. "I've just been doing lots of swimming, lots of weight training, getting mentally psyched," Quakers freshman Michelle Wild said. Wild will swim in the 200-yard breaststroke, one of the Red and Blue's stronger events. "We have a lot of very good breaststrokers, and I also like our chances in anything Cathy Holland swims," Schnur said. Holland, a sophomore, was impressive from the very beginning of last season. In her career-opener she captured Penn's first victory in the 200-yard individual medley in seven years. Schnur, meanwhile, also expressed confidence in the Quakers chances to win freestyle sprints. Quakers senior co-captain Lauren Hibbert will swim in one of those sprints, the 100-yard event. She will also be in the pool for the 200 and 500-yard freestyles. "Everyone's been training really well," Hibbert said. "And we know that there's a really good possibility of winning this meet, so we are taking some extra measures." Among those extra measures are cutting back on practice yardage and, for some members of the team, shaving. The swimmers believe that months of practice with hair builds up resistance. Thus, the Quakers shaving for this meet hope the missing hair will cut their race times significantly. The Cornell meet is important to the Quakers, as it marks the opening meet of the season and stands as just one-of-four first semester meets. Princeton, which visits Sheerr Pool on Tuesday, has historically dominated Penn. On December 2, the Quakers host non-league opponent Swarthmore. The final event of the semester -- the La Salle Invitational -- presents a different format entirely for the Red and Blue and will not count toward the standings. "We have a team that really wants to win," Schnur said. "It's the hardest working women's team that we've had in a long time."