Big stage for W. Swim freshmen

Penn swim coach Mike Schnur wants his women to swim "as if their hair is on fire."

While Harvard and Princeton are expected to finish first and second at the Ivy League Swimming and Diving Championships, running today through Saturday, the rest of the slots are all very much up for grabs.

Penn finished this year with an overall record of 7-5, good for fifth in the Ivy League.

The Quakers are, however, a young team. Of the 20 girls competing in the Championships, 14 are underclassmen.

"It'll be interesting to see how our freshmen perform in a meet like this that's very pressured-filled," Schnur said. "Hopefully, they will enjoy the big-meet atmosphere."

In the three weeks of preparation leading up to the championships, Schnur has eased practice intensity considerably.

Along with eliminating morning practices, the women also spent less time in the pool and working out on dry land.

"It's always fun to taper," captain Megan Carlin said. "You feel good in the water and you're ready to go out and swim fast."

Most of the women are shaving for the first time since November.

A main reason to forgo shaving during the season is to acclimate to racing with extra resistance.

When that drag is finally reduced by shaving, swimmers feel faster and end up being more aerodynamic in the water.

"We've all been through a lot of ups and downs," Carlin said.

"We want to use this meet as an opportunity to come together and use all the negative things that have happened to our team as a motivator."

Princeton - the host of the Championships - is looking for a three-peat and its 18th overall title.

This season, the Tigers have swept all seven other Ivy schools and are ranked No. 18 in the country.

Their star swimmer, Alicia Aemisegger, was last year's Ivy League Championships Swimmer of the Meet as a freshman and holds six Princeton records.

Schnur is counting on some of his freshmen to make the finals in their events, such as Naomi Delphin in the 500 free, Carey Stauder in the 400 IM and Kelby Zimmerman in the 100 breast.

Sophomore Sara Coenen, who broke three school records at last year's championships, is seeded third in all of her scheduled events: the 100 back, 200 back and 200 IM.

There are some events in which Penn has less depth. Only sophomore Ainsley Cookingham will race in the 100 butterfly, and Penn will have just three divers competing, compared to Princeton and Harvard, who each have six.

New to Ivy Championships this year is the introduction of an electronic timing equipment used for relay takeoffs.

Required by the NCAA, the touch-pad system will measure if a swimmer's feet leave the block only after the previous swimmer's hand has touched it.

According to Schnur, because of human error, there have been many times when relay teams were not disqualified when they should have been.

"We have to make sure our relays finish legally or it could really impact our meet results," said Schnur.

At last year's championship meet, Penn had 21 finalists and broke six school records.

"The team looks great; they're excited and rested," Schnur said.

"Hopefully, we'll break some more school records and set personal best times this year."

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