M. Swimming drops all but two events to Harvard

The Penn men's swimming and diving team raced against two competitors on Saturday: Harvard and the snow storm.

"We knew the storm was coming and that we had a long drive back from Boston," Penn coach Mike Schnur said. "So Harvard ran the meet very efficiently. In a little over two hours, we were out of there."

The Quakers managed to beat the storm, but not the 2004-05 Eastern Intercollegiate Swim League Champion Harvard. The Crimson won 14 out of 16 events to defeat the Red and Blue, 211-88.

Penn's first win of the day came from senior co-captain Pat Maloney, who finished the 200-yard backstroke in 1:56.31. Teammate Patrick Gallagher earned second place with a time of 1:56.66.

"We had some really good swims," Schnur said. "We had different lineups; some guys swam alternative events than usual."

One such event was in the 100-yard breaststroke. Alex Silvester, Jon Kaufman, and Yuchi Zhang finished second, third and fourth, respectively. Freshmen Ricky Walters and Chaz Maul also competed.

"We had an awesome performance in the 100 breaststroke," Schnur said. "Some of our guys hadn't competed in breaststroke since the Columbia meet. They did a great job and it got them ready for championships. We have five quality breaststrokers and they will do a lot of damage at championships. Breaststroke will probably be our best stroke."

Zhang, a sophomore, picked up Penn's second win at the 200 breaststroke in 2:12.37. Matt Blaszko and Maul finished third and fourth, respectively.

The Quakers also had a strong showing in diving, with Nick Corsano and Tyler Markman finishing second and third at 1-meter. Markman, Corsano and Rob Wyss then took the second through fourth spots at 3-meters.

"In diving, we fared very well," Schnur said. "Harvard has one phenomenal diver, but usually they have more depth."

Now the Quakers will prepare for championship meets. Some will head to the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships at Pittsburgh starting on Feb. 24, and others will compete in the EISL Championships in East Meadow, N.Y., starting March 2.

"Our men going to ECACs are on the same rest schedule as the women, who have their championship meet on the same weekend," Schnur said. "For the next eight to ten days we will be mainly resting and working on relay starts.

"The men competing in EISLs will also begin to stop morning practices, lifting and running. The guys will begin to rest and let their bodies recover so they can be in top condition for championships."

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