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ericschultz

Sheerr perfection.

Penn men’s swimming took care of business in dominant fashion last Friday at home against Columbia and again on Saturday afternoon against Villanova at Sheerr Pool.

The men (3-0, 1-0 Ivy) not only won by significant margins — 167-114 over Columbia and 139-116 versus Villanova — but set three pool records in the process over the two contests.

The Red and Blue snagged their first couple of Sheerr records on Friday afternoon as senior Eric Schultz broke a 35-year-old mark in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 44.29 seconds.

Not to be outdone, freshman Mark Andrew made sure his name would be in the Penn record book before his career was even in full swing with a 1:50.13 showing in the 200 individual medley, eclipsing a time that had stood since 1993.

But the Quakers were not satisfied with their drubbing of Columbia. They followed the stellar performance against an Ivy foe up with a swift defeat of Big 5 rival Villanova.

This time, however, it was Penn’s relay squads that stole the show. In the 200 free relay, the Quakers — with a team comprised of freshman Thomas Dillinger, junior Kevin Su, junior Zach Fisher and Schultz — dropped a time of 1:21.90, erasing another Sheerr best.

While the men were setting records, the women’s team was also making strides en route to a 176-121 upset of Big East powerhouse Villanova.

The Wildcats (5-1), who boast 14 scholarship women swimmers, were neck and neck with the Red and Blue most of Saturday afternoon in West Philly. However, on the heels of a few clutch performances, Penn coasted to the victory.

Sophomore Virginia Burns and junior Rochelle Dong accounted for five of the Quakers’ individual victories. Dong was also victorious as a part of the 200 medley relay team, and Penn added a sweep of the diving events.

The Red and Blue, who improved to 3-0 overall, embark on a road trip to Princeton this weekend for a tri-meet with Ivy foes Princeton and Cornell. Already sitting with a conference win over Columbia under their belt, the Quakers look to build on their quick start.

The men will join their female counterparts for the journey to New Jersey where they too will stack up against the Tigers and Big Red, although they will be racing Princeton on Friday and Cornell on Saturday instead of facing both in a tri-meet.

Both teams sit undefeated entering the next leg of the schedule when they will begin to learn how they stack up against the rest of the league.

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