M. Swimming splits weekend as expected

All great things must come to an end. So did the Penn men's swimming team's four-meet win streak, which was snapped last Saturday at a double dual meet in Hanover, N.H. After an eight-hour bus ride, the Quakers (5-4, 2-4 Ivy) defeated a weaker Dartmouth squad, 171-127, but lost to Yale, 170-124, at the Karl Michael Pool. "We went in there and did what we were supposed to do and beat Dartmouth," Penn junior Matt Hand said. "Unfortunately we didn't swim well enough to challenge Yale." Dartmouth (2-5, 0-4 Ivy) jumped out to an early lead when its team of Michael Hipps, Thomas Sanford, Matt Sueoka and Ryan Goldhahn set a pool record in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:34.34. The Quakers were able to rally back, however, scoring first or second-place finishes in eight individual events. Junior Andrew Trout led the Red and Blue with first-place finishes in the 50 and 100 freestyle. Trout took the 50 free in 21.31 seconds and the 100 free in 47.10 seconds, both times narrowly beating Goldhahn. "Andrew was our best swimmer of the day," Penn coach Mike Schnur said. The Quakers also performed well in the 100 breaststroke, with senior Chris Miller and freshman Jon Kaufman taking second and third, respectively. Freshman Pat Maloney continued his success in the 200 butterfly with a second place finish in 1:52.80. In diving, freshman Tyler Markman took second in the one meter and third in the three meter dive. The team did not take its victory over Dartmouth for granted, considering the added momentum the Big Green had with their team's recent reinstatement. Dartmouth's swimmers also benefited from a longer rest period, since most of them will not be heading to the Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League championships in March. "Last year against Dartmouth, we were awful and lucky to win," Schnur said. "This year, we swam with a lot more heart and toughness and handled them pretty easily by the middle of the meet." Despite their victory over Dartmouth, the Quakers could not topple the undefeated Elis (8-0, 5-0), who took first in a meet-leading eight events. Juniors Alex Nash and Jimmy Veazey each placed first in two events for the Elis. Yale's swimmers also dominated the distance races -- the 200, 500 and 1000 freestyle. "Their distance guys were a little too tough for us," Schnur said. "We're relying on freshmen while Yale relies on juniors and seniors, and there's a difference there." Nevertheless, the Quakers feel that they could have given Yale more of a challenge if they had swum better. "If we had swam near or at the level we swam last weekend against Notre Dame and Brown, then we would have beaten [Yale]," freshman Neville Mitchell said. "They're not out of our league by a long shot." One reason for the loss was the absence of several top swimmers due to sickness. Juniors Eric Hirschhorn and Shaun Lehrer, freshman Evan Jellie and Chad Moyer and sophomore Brian Funk all stayed home after turning in first and second-place finishes during the Quakers' three consecutive victories two weekends ago. The Quakers also did not rest for last Saturday's meet as they did the prior weekend. The team returned to its most intense practices so its times later in the year will peak during the championship meet. "We're not the healthiest squad in the world right now," Schnur said. "But to have rested another week with all those sick guys wouldn't have made any sense." The Red and Blue return to action tomorrow when they host Rider at Sheerr Pool.

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