W. Swimming achieves its goal

With a 144-91 drubbing of La Salle, the Penn women's swimming team capped off a season that the five seniors on the squad could only have dreamed of when they arrived at Penn four years ago. When the seniors arrived Penn was coming off of six straight seasons without a win in the Ivies. Few would have expected the Quakers to have a winning Ivy season just four years after Mike Schnur took over as head coach -- much less a 10-win season. "It was a long way to go, but I never had a doubt we could turn this thing around," Schnur said. The tenth victory also made this the winningest season in Penn history. "It was a complete blowout, a really great end to my swimming career," senior co-captain Jessica Anders said. "Although I would've like to beat Yale, I'll leave that pleasure for the girls next year." The Quakers clinched nine first-place finishes, eight in individual events, on the day. Riding the momentum of Penn's win in the first event of the day -- the 200 medley relay -- the Quakers went on to place first in the next four events. Schnur chose to focus the meet on the sprint events, giving the veteran distance swimmers, among them Penn junior and record-holder Kathleen Holthaus, the weekend off. However, Schnur had no choice in sitting distance swimmer Julia Russick. The sophomore will be out for the rest of the season with a shoulder injury. These openings provided opportunities for the younger swimmers. "I'm always glad to let a lot of girls swim that don't usually swim as much," Schnur said. "We also wanted to give girls a chance to make [Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference] cuts." Although no one qualified for the Championships at the meet, the move gave less-experienced athletes such as sophomore Maureen Schriver the chance to shine. Schriver finished first in the 1000 free, touching in at 10:29.51. "There was definitely extra pressure there for me to step it up," Schriver said. "But we've all worked really hard for this, and I didn't want to let anyone down." Juniors Megan Daney and Nicole Wake also found themselves in unfamiliar territory, competing in the 100 free and the 200 individual medley, respectively. Daney, a powerhouse in the backstroke events, nonetheless sprinted to a first-place finish with a time of 55.94. Wake also proved her versatility by finishing first in the 200 IM in 2:13.95. Senior co-captain Lauren Dawe took second, finishing two seconds behind Wake. Capping an illustrious swimming career with the Quakers, Anders won the 200 free in 1:56.51. "I would've liked my swimming career to end at home," Anders said. "I've been swimming at this pool since I was seven years old, so it would've been like coming full circle." Sophomore Katie Frazee, a one-time Penn record holder in the backstroke events, won the 100 back, touching in at 1:01.89. Frazee is representative of the quality of young recruits that has brought the Quakers to the forefront of the Ivy League. "Records are made to be broken," Anders said. "If records are being broken every year, that says something about where this team is going." Margaret Jones, one of the graduating members of the team, placed fourth in the event in 1:05.50. Freshman Laura Hotaling continued to tear up the sprint events, placing first in the 50 free with her time of 24.35. Having completed the regular season, the Quakers will train for the next three weeks in preparation for the Ivy League Championships and the ECACs at the end of February. Katie Stores, battling mononucleosis, hopes to use the weeks before the Ivy League championships to fully recover. "We set this goal in September, and now in February, we've actually seen it come true," Anders said. "I can't tell you how rewarding that is."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.