Coming off a resounding victory in Ohio last weekend, the Penn women’s swimming squad faces two stout obstacles this week: Columbia and a rigorous slate of final exams.
The Quakers (2-1, 1-1 Ivy) will host the Lions (0-2, 0-2) Friday afternoon at Sheerr Pool in their third Ivy League dual meet this season, after competing against Cornell and Princeton last month.
The Quakers are looking to close out the calendar on a high note after finishing first out of six teams at the Total Performance Invitational at Kenyon College last weekend.
Penn rebounded nicely after its first loss of the season, winning 13 of its 18 events at Kenyon.
In total, the Red and Blue broke five school records — including three from junior Shelby Fortin — while competing in Ohio. Competing in the 100-yard freestyle, Fortin touched the wall in 50.54 seconds.
Fortin also broke records in the 200 backstroke and 1,650 freestyle. Her time of 1:58.35 in the 200 backstroke eclipsed the mark set by Sara Coenen back in 2008. Fortin’s 16:32.87 in the 1,650 freestyle barely surpassed her own record of 16:32.88, set at last season’s Ivy League Championships.
Following the invitational at Kenyon, coach Mike Schnur said “[the event] doesn’t really have a lot to do with what you’re doing in the Ivy League.” Though the Quakers performed well in Ohio, “[the team] was a lot better prepared last week than this week.”
According to Schnur, various members of his team are conflicted by academic requirements this week.
“For some reason, most of them have final exams this week,” Schnur said. “Half our team seems to have final projects or final exams that are due now where they aren’t getting the benefit of reading days.”
Such a situation could cause problems in preparing for the Lions’ visit.
“The bad news is that when they have that much work, they can’t train,” Schnur said. “So when they get to the meet on Friday, they’re going to have issues.”
Regardless of the team’s academic schedule this week and their performance at Kenyon, the Quakers won’t have their whole team going against Columbia.
While the majority of the team participated in Ohio over the weekend, the meet against the Lions is a much smaller event.
“We only have six lanes, so half of our team is barely swimming on Friday,” Schnur said. “Basically, it’s our best kids versus Columbia’s best swimmers [and] it is up to our high-end women to beat theirs.”
Though it is not reflected by their record, the Lions have plenty of talent, including senior Katie Meili, last year’s Most Outstanding Swimmer of the Meet at the Ivy League Championships.
Friday’s competition marks the final event of the semester for the Quakers. After winter break, Penn’s first action will be a tri-meet with Dartmouth and Yale Jan. 12 at Sheerr Pool.
With their recent success, Penn is hoping to take on a more confident approach going forward.
“They should [be more confident],” Schnur said. “Your confidence level in swimming isn’t really based on winning and losing, it’s based on how you swim as an individual.
“We had some individuals who swam phenomenally well, and they should be feeling pretty good about themselves right about now.”
SEE ALSO
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Penn swimming splits weekend meets
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