W. Swimming has chance to turn the tables

Just three-hundreths of a second.

That was the difference at last year's meet between the Penn and Columbia women's swim teams in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Columbia's narrow victory, the final one of that meet, gave the Lions just enough points to beat the Quakers in a 153-147 decision.

So today, when the Lions (2-2, 1-2 Ivy League) visit the Quakers (4-2, 1-2) at Sheerr Pool at 6 p.m., the Red and Blue will keep last year's heartbreaking loss firmly in mind as they focus on payback.

And despite the lack of a rivalry in other sports, there is certainly one among these two schools when it comes to swimming.

"On the women's side, Columbia is definitely our chief rival, especially after last year," head coach Mike Schnur said. "The girls definitely have a score to settle after they beat us by an eyelash last year."

The competitive history means that the Quakers can not help but be excited for a rematch.

"We definitely have a close rivalry with Columbia, so this is one of the biggest meets of the year," senior co-captain Stephanie Colson said. "Since it's been so close in the past and everyone wants to win, we're all getting pumped."

And given the parity between the two squads, no one should be surprised.

"The Penn and Columbia women's teams have had basically the same [caliber] team for the last six or seven years," Schnur said. "In the Ivy League Championships every year, except for two years ago [when Penn beat Columbia by 191.5 points], we've been within 20 points of each other."

There is also a men's rivalry that dates further back than the women. But Columbia has dominated these recent matchups, winning in each of the last three years.

The men's team "has been rivals with Columbia since I was swimming," said Schnur, who broke 49 school records while swimming for the Quakers in the late 1980s.

The two men's teams will meet tomorrow, as Penn (3-3, 0-3) will aim for its first league win against the Lions (2-3, 1-2).

Key to this meet will be the three freestyle races between Penn junior Pat Gallagher and Columbia senior Tobin White.

"White is one of the best swimmers in the league, if not the country," Schnur said. "If he wins all three then we'll have a hard time beating Columbia. Pat's going to need to win one, maybe two of them.

"He doesn't have to win all three, but probably at least one."

So how has Gallagher responded to the pressure?

"I'm just going to try to go out and have some fun," he said. "It's always fun racing against guys [like White]."

He also feels confident that the team as a whole has a solid chance to finally break through against Columbia, who he has not yet beaten in his career.

"We have a good shot at being competitive, since we're coming off a good meet at Kenyon," Gallagher said.

During that competition, the team beat four others to garner first place overall.

So while the women are destined to write the new chapter of an established storyline, it will fall to Gallagher and his teammates to help reignite the older one.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.