Excuse Penn swimming coach Mike Schnur if he's not exactly thankful for Thanksgiving Break.
Junior John Benigno is out of commission after cutting off part of his finger while slicing bread, and several other swimmers are battling lingering colds.
But the Quakers (1-2) will have to persevere despite those hardships, as this weekend brings one of the most demanding meets of their season.
The Kenyon Invite begins today in Gambier, Ohio. Over the next three days, the Penn men will compete against five teams: Davidson, Carnegie Mellon, Colgate, Johns Hopkins, and Kenyon, which has won 29 consecutive Division III national championships.
Schnur has understandably used the last three days as recovery time, letting his swimmers rest up for the weekend.
"They'll live. They're tough, and they're not going to let any of that bother them," he said. "They're ready for battle."
They better be ready, because the Quakers and Kenyon have traded first place finishes in the last two Kenyon Invitationals, with the Lords edging out Penn in 2007.
"Hopefully we'll turn the tables and win the meet this year," Schnur said.
The two teams once again figure to be the favorites.
"Basically our team and Kenyon are pretty far ahead of everyone else in terms of the overall meet." Schnur said. "The other teams have very good individuals. They just don't have as many as we do or as Kenyon does."
The Lords are expected to have at least ten or twelve more swimmers than the Red and Blue. As a result, Penn's men will have to swim more events than usual.
"The most important guys are the guys who are entered in six or seven events [to] keep stepping up and keep competing," Schnur said. "Kenyon is just throwing so many guys. It's like wave after wave of guys they throw at you."
In some later meets, each swimmer can only compete in three individual events. This weekend, though, the coaches can put their swimmers in any event they want.
Schnur is taking advantage of this freedom by placing at least one of his swimmers in every event.
"It's a great meet because of that," Schnur explained. "That is one of the reasons why we come: We have an opportunity to swim different events."
The Quakers are expecting a major contribution from junior James Fee, who won Swimmer of the Meet at the Kenyon Invite last year.
"I just want to break a couple records and get best times," Fee said. "I think that will probably happen."
If Fee's technique isn't enough, his superstition might help.
"This is the first time that I'm going to a trials-finals meet unshaved," he said. "But I went unshaved at Princeton and I went two best times, so I'm not that worried."
