Navy proves too strong for M. Swimming

The Navy Midshipmen defeated the Penn men's swimming team Saturday by a score of 158-81. Navy won 11 out of the 13 events at Sheerr Pool, but the scores say little about how the Quakers performed in the meet. "It wasn't a close meet, score-wise. It was a straightforward meet," senior tri-captain Paul Poggi said. "We knew a win was a bit of a long shot. Navy seemed to have the same attitude as we did. But a lot of the guys did really well regardless." Saturday's lineup deviated a bit from the norm, as swimmers were shuffled to give the coaches an idea of who will be representing the Quakers in this Saturday's Ivy League meet against Yale and Dartmouth. "We needed to do some different things in terms of the lineup. It really changed the dynamic of how we swam," Poggi said. "We are looking to select a travel squad for next week," coach Kathy Lawlor-Gilbert said. "We mixed the lineup around to see what guys will be able to swim in what relays. "We had some really strong performances, and now have more of an idea where things are headed." The changed lineup may have had some effect on how Penn swam against the Midshipmen, but it detracted little from individual performances. The 400-yard medley relay team was one of many to be switched up, allowing the coaches to get a sense of what they had to look forward to in weeks to come. "Although we had a different medley relay team, the guys swam really well," Lawlor-Gilbert said. Notable Quaker performances on Saturday were turned in by freshmen David Hausladen, a freestyler, and Matt Cornell, a diver. "David bettered his time unshaven and untapered," Lawlor-Gilbert said. "He's ready," the coach added, referring to both next week's match up at Yale and the season-ending Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League Championships. "I went into the meet just hoping to do a little bit better than I did last week," Hausladen said. "We were all pretty laid back in that we didn't concentrate on the meet like we did for Army, but we still took it seriously." The team will look forward to a similarly strong performance by Hausladen next week in the 200-yard free, as the Quakers strive to qualify for spots at the Easterns. Additionally, all eyes will be on Cornell, who is steadily improving, thanks to the training of new diving coach Diane Chmielewski. "I personally did the best I ever have at college," Cornell said. "I really played up to their level of competition. Diane helped me a lot with cleaning up my dives and putting them into the water better." The Quakers will continue to work hard as their season draws to a close. In the next few weeks, the swimmers will increase their focus on gaining positions at the Easterns. Next weekend's meet at Yale, where Penn faces both the Bulldogs and the Big Green, will be important to the Quakers as a means of gauging their progress towards sending multiple swimmers to Easterns.