The Penn swimming teams will have no chance to ease into the water as they each open their seasons tomorrow against Ivy League swimming powerhouse Harvard.
Unlike last year, when both teams opened their seasons with two home meets against non-conference opponents before diving into the Ivy League schedules, they will face an immediate tough test on the road against highly talented Crimson teams.
Nevertheless, Penn coach Mike Schnur and his team are looking forward to the challenge of starting their seasons with one of their toughest opponents.
"I think it's great," Schnur said. "You want your first meet to be a challenge."
The Harvard men's team starts the season ranked 25th in the CSCAA Division I Dual Meet Rankings, while the women are the highest-ranked team sitting outside the Top 25. Both teams placed second at Ivy League championships last season.
Schnur believes tomorrow's meet will be a measuring stick for the women's team, which had its best finish in school history last season. They placed fifth in the Ivy League championships last year.
"In some ways it is a test in how the ladies compete," Schnur said.
The Quakers women will have an opportunity to compete against some of the Ivy League's elite swimmers; the Crimson boasts six former or current Ivy League individual champions.
Leading the way for Harvard is last year's EISL Championships Swimmer of the Meet, Noelle Bassi. The senior is a five-time Ivy League champion and set the Ivy League record for the 200-yard butterfly last year with a time of 1:58.81, and qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials.
Harvard's already talented roster will be bolstered by freshman distance swimmer Alexandra Clarke, who also qualified for U.S. Olympic Trials this summer in the 800-meter freestyle at junior nationals.
"The first meet is exciting because we get to see what level we're at, to watch how hard we've worked pay off," Penn senior Hayley Wolfgruber said
Not to be outdone by their female counterparts, Harvard's men's team also features some of the nation's best swimmers.
Junior Geoff Rathgeber is one of two Crimson men who qualified for Olympic Trials, the other being junior Sam Wollner.
Rathgeber took eighth place in the National Championships this summer in the 200-meter individual medley - a race won by Olympian Michael Phelps - with a time of 2:03.53.
Schnur is interested to see how his young team will respond to this challenge.
"It's a great opportunity to face a team with so many Ivy champions on it, to see if they'll be intimidated or not," Schnur said.
Although the coach believes Harvard is one of the best Ivy League teams, he is treating the meet just like any other.
"It's not bigger; we're not resting; we keep working right through it," Schnur said. "Because the team only races each other in practice, we're just looking forward to racing against another team in a great facility."
