M. Swimming looks ahead to Columbia

The Quakers are viewing this weekend's meet with Georgetown as a tune-up for Ivy League rivals. There will be one goal in mind for the Penn men's swimming team when it competes against Georgetown at Sheerr Pool this weekend -- beating Columbia. The Quakers are looking beyond this weekend's meet with the Hoyas as they prepare for a difficult foe when the Lions visit on December 11. "It's probably going to be a pretty easy meet for us. Georgetown doesn't really have a strong team," Penn senior co-captain Matt Reilly said. "We're still getting up to swim fast because we have to swim our seed times for Easterns." This weekend's meet gives the Red and the Blue the opportunity to race in events that they would not usually have the opportunity to compete in against more challenging teams. Penn's goal this weekend will be to get good times in these events so the Quakers will be seeded highly when those events come up at the Easterns meet in March. Penn also hopes to identify some swimmers who may have hidden talents in events that they don't usually race. The Quakers are confident heading into the rest of the season -- their November 19 win against Cornell has given Penn confidence that it can beat teams who have proven themselves superior in the past. The Quakers are particularly encouraged because diver Matt Cornell was sidelined with a broken wrist against the Big Red. "Right now I think we're trying to put that win behind us. We have a lot more goals than just Cornell," Reilly said. "Columbia is huge, we have Army and Brown next semester. [Beating the Big Red] was the first step to a good season. We're trying to take the momentum from it." The Quakers are going to have to build up some heavy momentum if they are going to beat Columbia, Army and Brown. Penn lost to Columbia 124-117 in New York last February, to Army 143-100 and to Brown 166.67-75 at West Point, N.Y., last January. Furthermore, the Quakers have not beaten Army in over 20 years. That is not to say that this year will not be different. In addition to having a new head coach in Michael Schnur, the Quakers are led by a strong senior class and are further bolstered by a good recruiting class. Their meet against Columbia will provide an indication of whether the Red and Blue will be able to defeat rivals who have proven elusive in the past. The Quakers will need to do a lot of that in order to have a successful season -- they have compiled just six winning seasons since World War II. The Quakers will be helped by having a home pool advantage against the Hoyas, the Lions and the Cadets. "This year we are at home, so we definitely have an advantage," Schnur said. "It's hard to swim at Army because it is a long bus ride to have to swim that day. We're a very good home team and Columbia traditionally is also, so it's nice to get them away from their home pool because their pool is very tough to swim in. "Plus the other factor we have going for us against Columbia and against Georgetown this weekend is by being at home you have your fan support. It can get very loud and it is an intimidating place for the opposition to come in to." Penn's record from previous years shows that the Quakers have more success against their Ivy rivals when at Sheerr Pool. But the Quakers will have to rely on more than home pool intimidation when they travel to Easterns, which will be held at Princeton in March. Although Easterns may be a long time from now, Penn knows that it will need to start proving itself well in advance with Georgetown, Columbia and Army. "I'm training right through [the Georgetown] meet and I expect them to still get up and compete," Schnur said. "It's really a tune-up for Columbia."