One of nation's best heading to Sheerr

As the Penn men's swimming team completed its practice yesterday, a group of swimmers paused to take a look at some of Harvard's statistics. "They have never finished below .500, ever," freshman Michael Anderson noted. "Surely they must have some great swimmers who we're not expected to beat." Harvard (6-1, 4-1 Ivy), who was ranked No. 21 in the nation at the end of January, will visit the Quakers this Saturday for what will be the last dual meet of the season for both teams. While the Quakers (7-4, 1-4 Ivy) hope to finish an already strong season on a positive note, they realize that they will not be able to compete with the strength and depth of Harvard. "They don't have any bad swimmers at Harvard," Penn coach Mike Schnur said. "They finished 15th in the rankings last year and are legitimately one of the best teams in the country." The Harvard meet, which falls around the same time every year, is usually the last chance for the Quakers to improve their times to qualify for the end of year championships. Fortunately for Penn, none of the swimmers will need to use it. "We're blessed that every swimmer has already qualified for either the ECACs or Easterns," Schnur said. Those who have begun tapering for the Eastern College Athletic Conference championships in two weeks will be slightly more rested than the rest of the team. The Quakers, however, do not feel that it will be much of a factor. "There's no one who will be resting just for the Harvard meet," senior co-captain Kevin Pope said. "We're going to race our main guys who won't start resting for the Easterns till after the meet is over." The Quakers are expected to gain some added momentum due to the Senior Day festivities that will occur during the meet. Penn seniors Spencer Driscoll, Chris Miller, Kevin Pope and Nate Pinney will be honored before the meet and will race the medley relay together one final time. The Red and Blue will also have to face a much stronger bottom half of the Crimson lineup, who will be shaved and tapered for their final meet of the season. "Since Harvard doesn't go to ECACs they will have their 'B' team rested and shaved for their final meet," Schnur said. "Unfortunately most of their 'B' guys are as good as the best swimmers we've got." Despite the improbable chance of victory, Schnur plans to race his best swimmers in each event in an effort to see how far the Quakers are from Harvard's top times. "Usually we do a lot of off events, screw around, because we know we're not going to win," Schnur said. "This year we're not going to do that." Swimming the top men in each event will also have a profound impact on the championships at the end of the month. "If our guys are going to swim fast at Easterns, these are the same guys they're going to have to beat," Schnur said. "If we're afraid of Harvard now, then three weeks from now, we're toast."

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