W. Swimming wins rematch with Drexel

The last time the Penn women's swimming team (2-2) faced competition in the pool, it was December 5 at La Salle's Hayman Center. Penn's swimmers fared well, but the Quakers' dearth of divers allowed Drexel (1-4) to pass them in the final standings. The Dragons would finish second while the diver-less Quakers fell to fourth. Saturday, the Red and Blue again faced Drexel without divers, hungry for revenge. The Quakers sent their visitors back to Market Street reeling, thrashing the Dragons 131-100, even after the absence of Quakers divers gave Drexel an immediate 26-point lead. One factor in Penn's victory was that Drexel was shaved and rested for the La Salle event, while both teams came to Saturday's meet tired from intensive practices over the holiday break. "The women trained like maniacs," Penn coach Kathy Lawlor-Gilbert said. "Drexel also has very tough winter training, so I knew the Drexel swimmers were rested for the La Salle meet -- shaved and tapered, while we were not, so I knew that neither team would be tremendously fast." One Penn swimmer apparently did not know that she was supposed to be tired. Penn's Cathy Holland won three events on Saturday: the 1,000-yard freestyle, the 200-yard backstroke and 200-yard individual medley. The victory in the individual medley was probably the most impressive because Holland had a very short break after her freestyle win. "[Assistant coach] Mike Schnur basically told me that there wasn't going to be much time," Holland said. "But the thousand was just really easy, and it wasn't that bad with the little amount of rest because that's basically what we've been doing in training for the last two weeks. I basically just cooled down the entire time between the two races, and took it the way I would while we've been training." The training trip also boosted the Penn freshmen. Devin McGlynn, April Fletcher and Kate Peretti were the only other solo winners for the Quakers Saturday, as Penn also notched victories in two relays. The story of the day, however, was Holland, the Red and Blue's sophomore standout. "I'm really happy," Holland said. "All of my times have been pretty much faster at this point in the year than they were last year, and I feel like I'm in good shape. Everyone on the team has been working really hard and I think that we should do really well." For the team to do as well as Holland hopes, the hard work will have to continue. With little to no diving support, however, the Quakers will have some trouble competing. But after a good training trip to Miami and the victory on Saturday, the Red and Blue are confident. "I sound probably like a broken record," Lawlor-Gilbert said. "But this team goes out every time and tests themselves as athletes. They just never say die, that's what I like the best about them." Penn's can-do attitude, however, is spurred by a must-do work ethic. Holland was able to win two virtually back-to-back events because she had been training so hard for two weeks, as had the rest of the team. "Everyone is willing to put in 110 percent at every meet," Holland said. "Because we don't have any divers, and we're trying to prove ourselves -- that's what we have to do. The older kids have [also] been tremendous leaders keeping everyone together." Since the older swimmers have been through a few seasons already, they also help to provide some perspective and focus for the group. "It's a long season," said senior Jen Triolo, a member of Saturday's winning 400-yard freestyle relay team. "With a team comprised of so many freshmen, there's a lot of excitement, but it's easy to get discouraged. That hasn't happened, but we can help to guide them in the right direction."