Quakers lock sights on Army

Will history repeat itself or are things about to change? Recent history has shown that the Penn men's swimming team has been narrowly defeated by Army --two years ago it came down to the final relay of the meet and last year it was a one point loss, 122-121. The Quakers (3-1) will travel to Army this Saturday to compete against both Army and Brown. The pool at Army was the sight of last year's Eastern championships and is considered a fast pool. Brown has proven to be a more dominating team than Penn in the past, which is what the Quakers are expecting again this year. Last year Brown soundly defeated Penn by a 177-65 mark. Although Penn will swim against both teams, Army is its focus. Beating Army is most important to Penn's juniors and seniors. It goes beyond just swimming well -- they have to overcome the pressure that has been building throughout the years. "We haven't beaten Army in a long time," senior tri-captain Brian Cohen said. "We need to overcome the Army curse." But what needs to be done differently in this weekend's race? That is hard to say because the Quakers have put forth great performances in the past two years and both times have been edged out of a win. "Against Army, anything can happen," coach Kathy Lawlor-Gilbert said. "Every year we throw everything we have at them and they throw everything they have at us." The tough competition between the teams shows that this meet will not hinge on any one event. Instead, Penn needs to be ready in all of them. "The team has been preparing for their match-up against Army since the La Salle meet in the beginning of December," assistant coach Michael Schnur said. "We need guys to step up in events that they have done all year." The team is led by tri-captains Cohen, Paul Poggi and Graham Rigby. Strong performances are expected from sophomores Blake Martin, Ben Schmidt and Brian Barone. Freshman sensation Kenneth Goh, who is back from the Asian Games, will lead the freshmen swimmers against the Cadets and the Bears. Although individual performances are important and provide excitement for the fans, an entire team effort is crucial if Penn is to pull off a win. One thing is for sure. The Quakers have a lot of team unity and spirit, which they believe will lead them through the meet on Saturday. "It is time we beat this team and we definitely have the squad to do it," Poggi said.