Although summer is clearly over, the Penn community is returning to the pool to watch the stars of women’s swimming and diving compete in an another season that opens against the University of Richmond this Saturday at Sheerr Pool.
This season is highlighted by the return of Anna Kalandadze for her final season of NCAA eligibility. The 2022-23 The Daily Pennsylvanian's Sports Women’s Athlete of the Year spent her first season at the University of California-Berkeley, but transferred to Penn after negative experiences with her coach. She transferred right before the 2020-21 season, which was cancelled due to COVID-19 — giving her an extra year of eligibility as a student-athlete at Penn.
Kalandadze returns this season with some international experience after representing the U.S. this summer at the World University Games. The distance freestyler is looking to replicate her record-breaking season last year, which included a top-10 finish at the NCAA Championships, two Ivy League gold medals, and an Ivy League record. Also, given that 2024 is an Olympic year, the Red and Blue's meet schedule includes the U.S. Open in November and U.S. Olympic Trials in June that the Ardmore, Pa. native will likely be competing at.
Some other top returners include sophomore freestyle/individual medley specialist Anna Moehn and sophomore freestyler Sydney Bergstrom. The two finished on the podium with Kalandadze at last year’s Ivy Championships in the 1650-yard freestyle, and Moehn also finished third in the 500 free behind Kalandadze and now-graduated Catherine Buroker. Buroker, a two-time NCAA qualifier and four-time second-team All-Ivy, was a key part of the Quakers distance group. But with Moehn and Bergstrom’s strong freshman performances last spring, the Red and Blue’s distance freestyle remains strong.
Another storyline to follow this winter is junior breaststroker Izzy Pytel. The Naperville, Ill. native is a four-time Ivy finalist and is the current program record holder in the 100 and 200 breast. Pytel will likely be working towards making it on the podium in her signature events this season after several close finishes at the Ivy Championships in previous years.
The veterans are supported by a strong freshman class that is headlined by backstroke and individual medley specialists Charlotte Holliday and Kate Levensten, who will likely make an immediate impact on the team that looks to improve last year’s 5-5 overall and 2-5 conference meet record.
Holliday hails from Warren, N.J. and the Greater Somerset County YMCA club swim team, notably the same town and club team that Penn men’s swimming and diving athlete and World Champion medalist Matthew Fallon is from. Holliday comes to Penn with national meet experience from this past summer, notably as the backstroke leg in the championship winning 400-meter Medley Relay at the 2023 YMCA Long Course National Championships.
Unlike Holliday, Levensten comes from much closer: Lower Merion, Pa. Levensten is coming off a strong season with her club team, the Suburban Seahawks, where she finished fourth and sixth in the 100 back and 200 individual medley, respectively, at the Middle Altlantic Senior Championships. Eerily similar to Holliday, the freshman’s best time in the 100 back stands at 54.59.
Fellow freshman Sophie Slayden joins the diving team from Austin, Texas, and will similarly make an immediate impact on the small but mighty team. Under her belt, Slayden has a lot of strong national experience as a finalist in multiple U.S. Diving Junior Championships.
With so many different individual and team storylines to follow this season, the 2023-24 Penn women’s swimming and diving looks to be an exciting one.
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