Swimmers embrace local rivalry

When the Penn swimming teams take on La Salle tonight, the women's team (3-2, 1-2 Ivy) will expect a win while the men's team (2-3, 0-3) will look forward to a close meet.

One reason for the different outlooks is the differences between the two La Salle teams.

"The men's team is good," coach Mike Schnur said. "They're one of the best teams in the Atlantic 10. They're very well-funded. But I think it's going to be a good meet tomorrow since they're as competitive as we are."

"On the women's side, they've improved dramatically," Schnur said. "Fortunately for us, they're not quite as deep as we are."

The two Explorers teams' records reflect the discrepancy. The men's team is 2-1 overall and 0-1 in the Atlantic 10, while the women's team is 2-3, 0-1.

While there is no rivalry to speak of between the two women's teams, one does exist between the men.

"For the men's side, there is, because they have a lot of Philadelphia guys and so do we," Schnur said. "And all of our local guys know their guys."

In fact, some of the key races for the men will pit former high school classmates Penn junior Devon Carr and La Salle senior Sean Connors-McBride against each other.

"You always want to beat your friends," Carr said. "It's all about pride and who can trash talk for the next year. It's always fun to compete against people you swam with in high school."

Swimming against La Salle also holds special meaning for Penn's Pat Gallagher.

"I swam with about six or seven kids from La Salle in high school," he said. "It always seems like a bigger rivalry when you used to swim with the other guys."

Despite the difference in competitivness, Schnur expects the Lady Explorers to put up a fight in some heats, especially ones in which La Salle freshman Shannon Duval races.

Duval "will be very difficult to beat in either breaststroke or [individual medley], but we ought to win every race she doesn't swim," Schnur said.

And if the Quakers do that, they should be fine.

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