Penn women’s swimming and diving started its season with a huge splash last Saturday.
After a season of bouncing between two practice sites, the Quakers dominated the Delaware Blue Hens 175-118 in the first meet back at the newly renovated Sheerr Pool. Sophomore freestyle/butterfly specialist and reigning Ivy League 100-yard freestyle champion Kayla Fu led the win with individual victories in the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly while also swimming the anchor leg for the victorious 200 medley relay.
Fu, a program record-holder in three events for the Quakers, added her first Sheerr Pool record in the 100 fly with a time of 53.59 to her already impressive resume. The win comes after ending last season in ninth in the event at the Ivy League championships. Fu entered the championships seeded first, but an illness slowed her down.
“It’s a great start,” Fu said, “I think it’s more momentum for the team going forward. I think it’s a great start for the pool itself, because we’re already technically undefeated.”
And it does not seem like the star from Sugar Land, Texas is slowing down any time soon, especially with new NCAA qualification procedures in place this season that include an automatic qualification for conference champions that hit a national time standard.
Similar to how Fu started her Penn career hot, the season opener also featured many new Quakers making strong collegiate debuts. Three was a popular number as freshman diver Caroline Holcomb and freshman butterfly specialist Caroline Cancelmo both finished in third in the 3-meter dive and 500 freestyle respectively.
Freshman butterfly/backstroke specialist Brianna Cong in particular shined, taking home her first collegiate victory in the 200 backstroke by three seconds and notching second in a 1-2-3 Penn finish in the 100-yard backstroke. Junior butterfly/backstroke specialist Kate Levensten won the event with a time of 54.55 while another freshman — backstroke specialist Connie Wang — rounded out the sweep.
“The team and the coaches make it such an easy transition,” Cong said of transitioning to collegiate swimming. “They’re the reason I’ve been able to come in the pool every day and have the attitude that I have approaching the pool.”
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While underclassmen shone, that’s not to say Penn’s returners did not have themselves a day.
The Quakers distance group maintained its reputation of dominance. In the 1,000 freestyle, senior distance freestyler Anna Boeckman touched the wall in first with a time of 10:13:81. NCAA qualifier and senior freestyler Sydney Bergstrom was right behind two seconds later in second. To kick off her final campaign, captain and senior freestyle/individual medley specialist Anna Moehn notched a win in the 500-yard freestyle and finished third in the 200-yard freestyle. Moehn is a two-time NCAA qualifier and swam the 1,650 freestyle, 500 freestyle, and 200 freestyle at last year’s championships.
“My perspective this year is just one of gratitude and enjoyment. Every practice, I just try to come in with the best mindset and enjoy all the little moments with my favorite team in the entire world,” Moehn said.
Experienced star power was also on the pool deck. This meet was Texas graduate and assistant coach Emma Sticklen’s first as part of the Penn coaching staff, and Paris Olympian Matt Fallon was present on the pool deck as a student assistant coach.
There is still room for improvement in the season to come. None of the Quakers bested Delaware butterfly/backstroke specialist and two-time CAA champion Victoria Novinskiy in her signature events — 200 butterfly and the 200 individual medley. Delaware breaststroke specialist Bri Cottingham also emerged victorious in the 100 breaststroke and put up a tough fight in the 200 breaststroke against junior breaststroke/individual medley specialist Meredith Holcomb, who pulled ahead at the end for the win.
Regarding goals for the season as a whole, Moehn reiterated enjoying the little things but also winning at home.
“My big goal this year as a team is just to have the most fun that we've ever had and defend Pottruck. … Last year was tough and chaotic, and we always thrive in chaos, but it’s always good to be back home.” Moehn said.
Penn women’s swimming and diving will have plenty of opportunities coming up to do just that. Next up on the Quakers’ schedule is a meet at home against Villanova on Wednesday and the team’s Ivy opener against Columbia on Friday.
