M. Swimming handles Georgetown with ease

Penn cruised to a 60-point victory over the Hoyas in a tune-up for their upcoming meet with Columbia. The Hoyas, dogs that they are, were yelping in pain. The Penn men's swimming team easily swam past Georgetown on Saturday to take a 172-112 win at Sheerr Pool. The Quakers took first place in 10 out of the meet's 16 events, and took second place in each of the other six events. "The men swam pretty well. It was a nice opportunity to see some guys in events they don't always swim," Penn coach Mike Schnur said. "I think we had some very good results from some secondary events. I liked the way they competed and we learned some things that may be useful down the road." Against Georgetown, Penn's swimmers did not compete in their usual events. This strategy gave the Quakers a chance to see how they would fare in different types of races. Another point of switching the line-up around was to find any hidden talents the swimmers might possess and to score good times in relays that they will not compete in again until the Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League Championships in March. It is important for the Quakers to post good times in these races now so that Penn will be seeded highly at the EISL Championships. "I think we definitely found potential in some untapped events. Alan [Lamb] had a very good 200 IM," Schnur said. "Nate Pinney had a very good 200 fly; he went 1:58 without any preparation at all which was very good. Two of the guys had some nice relays -- I think our relays did very well this weekend and gave us some very solid seed times for the end of the year. Kevin Pope had a very nice 50 backstroke leading off that relay." Although the Quakers did away with the Hoyas with relative ease, there were some very close races. Senior Jon Maslow won the 100-yard butterfly by a mere .06 seconds, while freshman Nate Pinney won the 200 free by .24 seconds. There were also some barnburners, with freshman Spencer Driscoll winning the 500 free by 3.45 seconds. Penn suffered in diving, losing both the one-meter and three-meter events, with sophomore Matt Cornell out of commission as he continues to recover from a broken wrist Penn will not be able to dispatch Columbia, its next opponent, with nearly as much ease as it did Georgetown. The Red and Blue will face off with Columbia on Saturday at Sheerr Pool -- the Quakers lost to the Lions last year in New York, 124-117. "I think at this point in time there is not much more that can be done in the water because we've trained very well up to this point," Penn co-captain Amir Rozwadowski said. "I think in order to beat Columbia all the team has to do is focus mentally, and I think the meet is ours to take." In light of Penn's loss to Columbia last year, the Quakers will need to do something different next Saturday if they are to extract a win from the Lions. "From my own experience on the team, we are definitely a much stronger team [this year]," Rozwadowski said. "It's just a change in the program, it's a different attitude with a new coach. The younger swimmers are really stepping up and filling the roles that are required of them." Penn will enjoy a home-pool advantage against Columbia, which has proven helpful to the Quakers' performance in the past. Penn was able to vanquish the Lions 133-108 when the two teams swam a dual meet at Sheerr Pool two years ago.