Penn head swim Coach Mike Schnur is readying his team for a crucial Ivy League matchup at Columbia this weekend.
The women's swim team will take on Harvard and Columbia in a dual meet tomorrow night in New York.
The team comes in with a 2-2 record on the season, with losses to Richmond and Ivy League powerhouse Princeton.
This weekend, according to Schnur, is a crucial one to evaluate "what we're made of as a team."
Out of the three teams, Harvard is definitely the favorite, but only by a slim margin. Penn senior captain Rachel Zappalorti, thinks that "if everybody swims really well we should have a good chance."
Her coach couldn't agree more.
"Harvard is, on paper, clearly a better team than we are and than Columbia is," Schnur said. "But that doesn't mean we're not gonna beat Harvard if we swim well."
The Quakers believe that this weekend's opponents are the most evenly matched that they have faced so far.
Because of that, Zappalorti thinks the Quakers "need to come together as a team" to get a victory over Harvard and Columbia.
The key to Penn's hopes in the dual meet lies in the senior class. In its first three meets, Penn has been led by a superstar group of freshmen and although those girls still must swim well to assure a victory, Schnur thinks the burden falls on his seniors.
"It's time for the senior class to assert their dominance and step up and lead the team," Schnur said.
The seniors' leadership has extra importance because they are Penn's best swimmers in almost every event. The same girls who have led the team for the past three years are definitely ready to step up during crunch time.
Zappalorti said the team is "ready for this meet" and knows how important this weekend is.
"This weekend's meet will definitely give us a look at how championships will turn out," she said.
Penn won this meet last year, but Schnur said the team "had a huge advantage being at home last year, and a huge disadvantage going to Columbia this year."
If the team's are as closely matched as Schnur thinks, the match will likely determined by how well the Penn team can perform under pressure. Should they come out and swim well, they can beat both teams. However, if they don't compete at their best find themselves far behind the top of the Ivy League standings.
Coach Schnur is certain of only one thing this weekend.
"It's going to be a heck of a meet on Saturday."
