With one month left until the Ivy Championships, the Penn women’s swimming team won’t have a better dress rehearsal than this weekend’s tri-meet.
The stage is set this Saturday as the Quakers square off against Yale and Dartmouth.
In what will likely be the team’s toughest meet of the year, Penn (2-3, 2-3 Ivy) hopes to avenge its fourth place finish in last year’s Ivy Championships to Yale (4-0, 2-0).
“It has always been our goal since we [seniors] joined this team to finish third in the championship meet,” commented senior captain Amy Reams.
“With Harvard and Princeton — two of the top teams in the nation — leading the pack, Yale is who we have to catch to achieve our goal.” She added. “But it won’t be easy.”
Reams’ final comment proves true. Defeating Yale will be no easy task.
The Bulldogs have a strong senior class, led by seniors Susan Kim and Alex Forrester. Both swimmers finished first in all four events they swam in their last victory over Cornell.
While the Red and Blue has slower times than the Bulldogs, Penn coach Mike Schnur believes that his team is definitely within striking distance when performing at peak intensity.
“Although Yale is fast at the top, they are not as deep as us,” he said.
Schnur acknowledged that the Bulldogs’ times will likely give them an advantage Saturday. But in Ivy Championships, he thinks the Quakers’ depth “should really be an advantage.”
When comparing times to the other squad in the pool, Dartmouth (0-6, 0-4 Ivy), the Quakers are easily on top. But the pendulum swings both ways, and if Dartmouth blows out the meet, anything is possible.
Regardless of any perceived outcome, the swimmers have not lost sight of their overriding ambition for the weekend: practice.
“After being beat up all season,” Schnur said, “we need to see if we can swim our fastest when we are tired. We are at the toughest point in the season and it is time to put all of our work to the test and see if we are ready for the Ivy Championships.”
Reams agreed. “This is the thick of our training,” the senior said. “We have never worked harder and our break will come soon, but not before we finish out the season strong.”
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