The women's swimming team defeated Cornell 217-83, but fell to Princeton 113-184 in the home opener and the first meet of the Ivy season.
Sophomore Melissa Gardel gave the Quakers (3-1, 1-1 Ivy) their first victory of the day, finishing on top in three-meter dive with 248.15 points, followed by third-place finisher freshman Madeline Bauer, with 220.64 points.
In the past, Penn diving has not been strong, but with three freshmen and one sophomore on the team, diving is headed in another direction.
"We felt like we constantly had to make up points for diving but now they're adding points," captain Megan Carlin said.
Sara Coenen won both the 100-yard and 200-yard backstroke. Coenen is undefeated in the 200 back in her college career so far.
Lauren Brandes and Amy Reams finished third and fourth in the 50-yard freestyle, respectively.
Reams, who had shoulder surgery last year, is "doing a great job this year and her presence is felt in the pools," according to captain Katharine Donohue.
"Going into their first Ivy meet, the freshmen were nervous but we told them not to worry because there are other meets," captain Sarah Bargmann said.
The encouragement from the captains seemed to work.
According to coach Mike Schnur, the freshmen swam well, but there is an adjustment period so they have to "work on learning to swim fast even though they're tired from practice."
Princeton is ranked 24th in the nation and its top swimmer, Alicia Aemisegger, stole the show in her events, breaking three Sheerr Pool records in the 200 yard free, 200 yard breaststroke and 200 yard IM.
"They're a great team, very deep," Schnur said. "Alicia is above everyone else in the league."
Penn and Princeton swept Cornell and the Big Red had only one first-place finish, in the 100 yard butterfly, out of 16 events.
For Penn, there is always room for improvement. According to Schnur, that includes meet preparation, flips and turns, competitiveness and workout level.
The Quakers showed some of that competitiveness in the last event of the day, the 400 yard freestyle relay where they finished second with a time of 3:37.07, less than a second behind Princeton.
"It was a great race, great competition," Schnur said.
