One week after suffering a two-point loss to Navy, the women's swim team had extra motivation in its final dual-meet before Ivy Championships.
"The goal of the meet was to take the frustration of losing to Navy to fuel our race against West Chester," said co-captain Megan Carlin.
They succeeded, drowning West Chester, 174.5 to 118.5. The men also beat the Golden Rams this past Friday, 180 to 119, but aren't done yet. They face Harvard at home next weekend.
Some women had the opportunity to participate in races in which they normally don't compete, as coach Mike Schnur wanted to see his swimmers' level of fitness.
Sara Coenen, still undefeated in the backstroke in her collegiate career, swam well in an event unfamiliar to her, the 200 IM, according to Schnur.
Andrea Balint, a regular in the 100 and 200 free, finished second in the 500 free.
"We also had some women step up who had not swum well," said Schnur.
Lauren Brandes, whom Schnur calls one of the best sprinters in the Ivy but who had struggled this year, finally had a "great swim" in the 50 free.
For Penn's men, despite the large margin with which the they defeated the Golden Rams, the meet was still very competitive.
"We were very fortunate to win. It took our best efforts," said Schnur. West Chester is ranked first in Division II.
Schnur gave the men a rare day off before the meet, and the decision paid off.
"They had some of the best unshaved swims we've had on our team," he said.
The swimmers typically shave their legs right before championships, hoping to get any edge they can.
Captain Pat Gallagher dominated both the 100 and 200 freestyle races, and James Fee won both his 500 and 1000 free events.
"West Chester is very deep in the 1000. If James hadn't won, it would've given them a lot of points," said Schnur.
Although a few men were sick or injured, the backups filled the roles nicely.
A sick Ben Gan could not swim his butterfly events and was replaced by Alex Keeney and Jack Wiese who finished second and third, respectively, in the 200 fly.
Larkin MacDonald's bad foot forced him to swim in only one race; his spot in the 200 free was taken by Joe Watts and John Benigno.
Both the women and men face one more intensive week of training before tapering for two to three weeks to prepare for championships.
"The women are set up to swim fast at the end of the year. Hopefully, they'll attack that meet the way they have all their dual meets," said Schnur.
