Saturday's swim meet against Navy will be unlike any other. The Annapolis pool dictates that races are measured in terms of meters instead of the usual yards.
"We have been training and swimming the same as we always do," senior captain Devon Carr said. "The main difference is that we will not be able to tell how fast you're going."
But there is another, larger obstacle: Navy's men's team has more swimmers that swim at faster times.
It has one of the best freshman recruiting classes in the country, according to Penn coach Mike Schnur, and will be very difficult to beat. The Middies' depth will mean a likely defeat for the Quakers men.
"Navy's freshmen are really good," Carr said. "Their distance swimmers are ridiculous, but we will go up and see. Maybe we can pull off an upset."
In order to have a chance to be competitive, the men's team will need to be strong in the sprint freestyles, the butterfly and the backstroke in particular.
Penn's women's team is expected to be victorious once again, as they have been in every meet against Navy since the 2003-04 season.
Senior captain Sarah Bargmann also pointed out the difficulties of the race measurement.
"We are aware we have beaten them in the past but they have gotten better over the last two years," she added. "Even so, we still have high expectations."
Last season's meet was incredibly close, 155-145 in favor of the Quakers, and home-pool advantage might play a real role.
"The meet last year came down to the last five yards of the last relay. We had the advantage of being home. They have advantage because we're traveling, waking up at 6:30 a.m. and then going on a two and half hour drive," Schnur said.
"We will practice early and warm up before we leave. We are used to swimming early in the morning," Bargmann said. "If nothing else, the early morning trip will be good practice for later [on] in the season."
Schnur is excited about the meet regardless of outcome because swimmers don't have their fastest times in a meet like this.
"You learn a lot about people when they're tired and when times don't matter," Schnur said.
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