The Penn men's swimming team was tired when it dove into Sheerr Pool Friday night.
The Quakers had just returned from an intense three-day Miami (OH) Invitational and were unsure of how they would swim against Ivy League rival Columbia.
The Quakers soon realized that they had nothing to fear as they crushed the overmatched Lions, 187-106.
"We weren't sure how we were going to swim coming off the long weekend," Penn sophomore Eric Hirschhorn said. "So we were pleasantly surprised."
Almost one-quarter of Columbia's points were scored by their divers, as they were only able to earn 81 points against Penn's swimmers.
The Quakers dominated at the beginning of the meet, placing in the top three positions of almost every race.
As a result, Penn coach Mike Schnur had to pull some of his top swimmers out of their events, so as not to embarrass the Lions and to give some of the other swimmers a chance to gain experience.
The blowout victory was even sweeter coming against Columbia.
"We have a very bitter rivalry with Columbia," Penn junior Nate Pinney said. "It felt very good to beat them."
Penn lead the way in the distance freestyle events. Pinney finished first in the 1000 meter freestyle with a time of 9:28, while sophomore Shaun Lehrer placed second.
The Quakers also prevailed in the butterfly events. In the 100-yard butterfly, sophomore Lowell Lamb swam to a first place finish in a time of 50.9 seconds with Pinney only .6 seconds behind. Sophomore Brendan Lang also took first in the 200-yard event.
Overall, Penn's swimmers finished with a 7-to-4 first-place finish margin.
The swimmers attribute their success to their intense preparation for the Miami Invitational and to their rivalry with the Lions.
"A lot of guys were still shaved from Miami," Pinney said. "But they swam their best times here because a dual meet is just so exciting.
"We were really pumped for it, especially in the beginning."
The Columbia meet was the last for the Quakers this semester. They will travel to Florida over winter break to continue their training.
"Everyone is swimming really well," Hirschhorn said. "We will just start training hard and hope to do well next semester."
Penn will resume its season after Winter Break against Army at Sheerr Pool on Jan. 12.
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