In the season opener for both the women's and men's swimming teams on Saturday, the freshman women stole the show.
The combination of youth and experience proved successful, as the Penn women defeated Lehigh 227-66 and Rider 195-104, while the men beat Lehigh 182-111 and Rider 166-133.
Freshman Kelby Zimmerman emerged as the star, winning the 100 and 200 breastroke in her first collegiate meet.
"She had an unbelievable meet," Quakers coach Mike Schnur said. "It was very gratifying to watch Kelby swim."
The success of the freshmen women didn't stop with Zimmerman, though, as newcomers Naomi Delphin and Genevieve Fleming also captured their first collegiate victories, in the 1,000 free and 500 free, respectively.
Sophomore Amy Reams won the 50 freestyle, joining her freshman teammates in winning her first collegiate race.
Sophomore Sara Coenen made a statement in winning both backstroke events easily and convincingly. In the 100 back, her closest follower finished almost three full seconds behind her.
"She was clearly the class of the building in backstroke," Schnur said.
While the women's victories all came from underclassmen, the two men's senior captains proved their positions at the top.
"The men were led by their two captains, Devon Carr and Pat Gallagher," Schnur said. "Both of them swam very, very well and set themselves up to have great seasons as two of the best guys we've ever had."
Gallagher won the 200 free and Carr took the victory in the 100 butterfly.
Freshmen Alex Kalish and Kyle Yeager took the 1,000 free and the 400 individual medley, respectively. The Quakers earned two more individual victories, from sophomore James Fee in the 500 free and junior Chaz Maul in the 100 breast.
Maul was essentially the reason the men claimed the 200 medley relay. After the first leg of the relay, the backstroke, Rider was far ahead of the Quakers. Maul then took over in the breastroke and caught his team up, en route to a victory in the relay and in the meet.
