The men and women's swimming teams both crushed Rider and Lehigh in Lawrenceville, N.J., on Saturday, breaking four pool records in the process.
"You are not expecting to get pool records, especially at Rider, which doesn't have a very good pool," coach Mike Schnur said. "We broke some high-caliber records from some very good swimmers."
The women's 200 free relay, consisting of Lauren Brandes, Tara Gillies, Andrea Balint and Stephanie Colson broke the Rider pool record by almost a second, clocking in at 1:38.3.
"Relays play a really big role in the meets," Colson said. "It is exciting because relays normally come down to hundredths of a second and have a big impact on the meets."
Brandes, a freshman, also broke the 50-yard freestyle record by two-10ths of a second with a time of 24.16. Brandes has become an asset to the team right off the bat, taking part in both relay and individual events. Classmate Sara Coenen, who broke the Penn school record in the 200-yard backstroke last week, won the 100- and 200-yard freestyle.
"Both freshman swam really fast times," Schnur said. "We have a lot of important freshman who are gaining experience in these meets preparing for bigger meets."
The highlight race of the meet was the 200-yard fly. Freshman Stephanie Nerby won by only a 10th of a second. Nerby separated herself from the field in the last 25 yards of the race, out-swimming her competition from Rider.
Captain Margot Newcomer and Gillies, a sophomore, both won their individual events this weekend and put some more points on the board for the visitors.
"I was very happy with how the women attached the meet," Schnur said. "They had some good times today and swam faster than they did last week. The team was very, very deep and scored in almost all of the events. This team has the potential to be one of the best teams I have ever coached."
The men, meanwhile, needed every ounce of effort to pull out some tough wins. In every race, they won by only a few tenths of a second.
"We learned a lot about our men in this meet," Schnur said. "They really had to battle hard and they went out there and did it. It's a good sign to see."
Junior Yuchi Zhang, who led the team last weekend against Harvard, broke the pool record in the 100-yard breast stroke at 50.8 seconds.
"Today was my fastest time ever in a meet." Zang said. "It felt really good and I have been improving a lot."
The 200-yard relay consisting of Patrick Gallagher, Devon Carr, Chris Buck and John Gillette shattered the pool record by over a second, clocking in at 1:24.8. Carr, Joe Griffith and Gillette all won individual events, as well.
"We were too deep and too strong for both teams," Schnur said. "The men's team has the potential to be one of the best teams Penn has seen in the last few years."
The freshmen on the men's team are contributing differently than the women's team. The seniors have more experience and stamina than the younger swimmers, while their efforts still have a major impact on the outcome of the meets.
They are still getting their feet wet, but Schnur expects a lot from the rookies.
"The freshmen boys are coming in second, third and fourth, while the upperclassmen win the events," Schnur said. "We really need the freshman in any event to get points that win meets."
