M. Swimming hits Wx Pool for tri-meet

The men's swimming team has high hopes for this weekend. Saturday's meet against Yale and Dartmouth doesn't kick off until noon, but the Quakers are getting a headstart on travelling by shipping off on Friday. Not only will this provide the team with an opportunity to rest up before the meet, but also it will give the Quakers time to familiarize themselves with Yale's Kiphuth Memorial Exhibition Pool, or the Ex Pool, as it is more commonly known. The pool is constructed so that it sits lowered in the center of the room, with seats circling the entire pool. In the deep end of the pool, there is an underwater coaching window designed originally to allow cameras to catch underwater footage of the numerous swimmers who have competed there in national and intercollegiate meets since the 1930s. "It's an old pool, a relic in a way," coach Kathy Lawlor-Gilbert said. "We're going to get in early and get used to the pool. It should be great. Three teams in there will make for instant noise." The trio of teams will certainly draw from the exciting atmosphere that the arena will foster, and the men of Penn are anxious to get in the pool and get down to business. "Our focus is on beating Dartmouth and racing Yale," senior tri-captain Paul Poggi said. "That's the theme of this weekend. This meet is a great chance to compete." The team looks forward to racing against both the Big Green and the Elis, but is really aiming to put up a fight against Yale. The Quakers, although statistically weaker swimmers, are very optimistic about competing this weekend. "Hopefully we can spank Yale in a couple of races," sophomore sprinter Jon Maslow said. The team shares his enthusiasm, and is confident that they will do well against both teams, and give the Elis, in particular, a run for their money. "Yale is a lot stronger on paper than we," Lawlor-Gilbert said. "We, on paper, are a lot stronger than Dartmouth. We will see what we can do, but it is going to be very competitive." Besides the obvious drive to do well this weekend against their opponents, there are Quakers who will also be competing against each other, vying for the few remaining Easterns spots on the team. The team will send only 17 swimmers and two divers to the season-ending competition. The competition gets fierce, though, as there are over 30 men on the team. "This weekend will be pretty decisive for the guys vying for Easterns spots. Some guys are focusing on this meet, some guys are focusing on a meet two weeks from now," Maslow said. Saturday, will prove to be an especially important meet for the individuals as well as the team as a whole, as both the precious Easterns spots and team records are at stake. And while the team is optimistic about the upcoming meet, they are far from complacent. "We can't roll back and be content," Lawlor-Gilbert said. "We have to get in there and compete."