Aiming to tame the Lions

Penn women’s swimming is riding high after dethroning Kenyon at the Division III champion’s Nike Invitational for the first time in program history.

The team hopes to continue its recent success in tonight’s meet against Columbia (1-2, 0-2 Ivy).

Although the Quakers (2-2, 2-2 Ivy) will enter the meet carrying momentum, they will also be battling tired legs after having only three days rest.

As a result, Penn coach Mike Schnur is unsure of what to expect from his squad tonight.

“Either they’re going to swim very well, coming off of a good, high meet, or they’re going to be real tired and struggle,” Schnur said. “So we’ll find out how tough they are.”

“My guess is that we will have some performances that will even be faster than they were at Kenyon,” he added.

Senior Andrea Balint, who took first in the 200-yard individual medley at Kenyon, is confident that the energy from this past weekend will carry through.

“Every one of the girls who went to Kenyon performed really well,” Balint said. “That helps a lot for confidence going in.”

Although the Quakers benefitted from their depth at Kenyon, with at least three swimmers into the final heat of every event and all 25 swimmers scoring points for the team, Schnur will rely on a different strategy against Columbia.

“They don’t have the kind of depth we do,” he said. “In a dual meet you can have four girls that win three events each, and there’s the meet.”

Last year, Penn fell to Columbia in its first dual meet of the season, though it later conquered the Lions at the Ivy Championships.

In the initial meet, the deciding factor for Columbia was the performance of then-senior Hannah Galey who won the 200- and 100-yard freestyle and anchored the first place 200-yard medley relay.

Schnur hopes that her graduation, as well as that of backstrokers Lauren Fraley and Bridgette McCabe, will give Penn an edge tonight.

“They lost a couple of girls that were instrumental in beating us last year,” said Schnur. “Hannah Galey, their freestyler, has kicked our butt for the last four years. I was very glad to see her graduate. That helps us a lot.”

This year, the Lions will be led by junior breaststroke specialist Mariele Dunn, who took first in both breaststroke events in her team’s victory last season.

The Quakers, however, will counter with their own talented group of breastrokers led by freshman Ji Young Lee, sophomores Laura Klick and Jackie Hain,and junior Kelby Zimmerman.

“There are going to be some really competitive breaststroke swims, which should be a lot of fun to watch,” Schnur said. “Mariele Dunn of Columbia is a terrific swimmer. Our swimmers are going to have their hands full.”

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