A tie in swimming is the rarest of occurrences.
Two swimmers racing over 100 yards and finishing in a dead tie is something that is not only rare, but seems impossible.
However, Penn junior Katie Stores and Yale freshman Chase Butler both finished with a time of 53:40 in the 100 freestyle -- a result that was representative of the extreme closeness of the meet on the whole.
On this day, a tie made all the difference in who won and who lost.
First place points by either team would have changed the entire outcome, as the Quakers (4-5, 3-4 Ivy) were narrowly defeated by Yale, 150.5-149.5, in their Ivy League home opener.
"A hundredth of a second either way and the thing could have been different," Penn coach Mike Schnur said.
The Red and Blue had their way with Dartmouth, however, winning 232-68.
In the tri-meet, the Quakers had an impressive overall performance -- placing at least one swimmer in first or second place in every swimming event.
According to Schnur, the one-point margin of defeat to the Elis was not due, in any part, to lack of effort by the Penn women.
Senior Kathleen Holthaus was also optimistic despite the narrow loss.
"We were really bummed to lose by a point," she said. "But it will get us more fired up to beat Yale in the Championships."
Despite the narrow loss, strong performances were turned in by a number of Penn swimmers.
Holthaus complimented the 200 medley relay team composed of freshman Stephanie Colson, seniors Anne Tudryn, and Megan Daney and sophomore Laura Hotaling, who had the task of swimming the first race of the meet.
They "really stepped up and set the tone for the meet," Holthaus said.
Tudryn also turned in an amazing performance, with three first- place finishes in the 200 medley, the 100 breaststroke and the 200 breaststroke.
But the best race of the meet came from Penn's swimmers in the 200 individual medley.
"The 200 IMers had to get certain places, and they all stepped up," Schnur said.
The Penn coach was happy with the resilience of his swimmers in the event.
"We were losing by 17 points going into the second to last event and Alison Bretherick and Erica Gentilucci both swam the fastest unshaved times and kept us in the meet," Schnur said.
Despite the split result on the weekend, everyone remains optimistic about the upcoming Ivy League Championships where they will see Yale again.
Maybe next time they'll get the extra point.
PENN 232, Dartmouth 68
PENN 149.5, Yale 150.5
200 MR -- PENN (Colson, Tudryn, Daney, Hotaling) 1:48.75. 1000 free -- Hession (Yale) 10:14.53. 200 free -- Butler (Yale) 1:54.07. 100 back -- McCloskey (Yale) 58.33. 100 breast -- Tudtryn (PENN) 1:06.30. 200 fly -- Shafier (Yale) 2:06.11. 50 free -- Hotaling (PENN) 24.89. 100 free -- Stores (PENN) 53.40. 200 back -- McCloskey (Yale) 2:04.46. 200 breast -- Tudryn (PENN) 2:22.79. 500 free -- Hession (Yale) 5:02.08. 100 fly -- Knicely (Yale) 57.66. 200 IM -- Bretherick (PENN) 2:08.74. 400 FR -- PENN (Aiello, Colson, Wake, Stores) 3:34.69. 1 m dive -- Loftus (Yale) 265.15. 3 m dive -- McKeon (Yale) 229.75.
