Penn women's swimming will travel to Brown to compete in the Ivy League Women's Swimming and Diving Championship from Feb. 21-24.
Credit: Samantha TurnerAfter ending the regular season on a high note with a commanding win over West Chester University last month, Penn women’s swimming and diving are headed to Providence, R.I for the Ivy League Championships to prove they are more than their 1-6 conference record.
Leading the charge is senior freestyler Anna Kalandadze. The two-time NCAA Championships qualifier returns to the Ivys as the one to beat. Last year, the Ardmore, Pa. native took home gold medals in the 500-yard and 1650-yard freestyles, notching an Ivy League record in the latter. This season, Kalandadze has been a consistent and dominant force during the regular dual meet season, and is undefeated in the 1000 yard free while also being consistently in the top three in the 500 free. She’s seeded first in both of her events this week. This weekend will be a stepping stone to her return to NCAAs this championship season.
Other notable returning medalists from last season are sophomore freestyler/individual medley specialist Anna Moehn and sophomore freestyler Sydney Bergstrom. At their Ivys debut last year, Bergstrom and Moehn stunned when they finished in second and third respectively behind Kalandadze in the 1650, rounding out the one-two-three punch for the Red and Blue. The trio have become a strong distance freestyle group that consistently finishes at the top of the podium. They swept the 1650 free podium at their mid-season meet, the Big Al Invitational, back in December, and will be looking to continue this trend later this week. Moehn and Bergstrom are seeded second and fourth in the 1650 free respectively.
Moehn was actually part of another podium sweep at last year’s championship with Kalandadze in the 500 free. In this one-two-three finish, Moehn took home another bronze medal behind now-graduated Catherine Buroker and Kalandadze. Moehn's strong third place performance behind Kalandadze at the Big Al invite shows that the two will still be a formidable force in the 500 even without Buroker.
Another duo to watch out for is junior butterflyers Joy Jiang and Vanessa Chong. At the past two Ivys, Chong medaled in the 200-yard butterfly — taking home a silver in 2022 and bronze in 2023. This year, the New York, N.Y. native will be looking to finally break into the top spot on the podium. Although missing from the 2023 championships, Jiang triumphantly returns to the Ivy stage on a hot streak. The junior finished second in the 200 fly at the Big Al invite with a NCAA B cut and placed first in the 200 fly at the regular season closer against West Chester. The two are a highly experienced duo who will hopefully keep the Red and Blue in the conversation during the 200 fly later this week.
Fellow junior and breaststroker Izzy Pytel is also looking to make a statement in Providence. The Naperville, Ill. native has been a consistent and strong performer in both 100 yard and 200 yard breaststroke events for the past two years. Last season, Pytel rebroke her program records in both breast events in route to making A-finals at both mid-season meets and Ivys. However, Pytel has yet to medal in either event at Ivys. This year, she’s seeded 7th and 11th in the 100 and 200 breaststroke respectively. Hopefully, she gets the chance to break onto the elusive podium this championship season.
Young talent has also made splashes this season. Freshman backstroke/freestyle/individual medley specialist Katya Eruslanova made waves in the 200-yard individual medley and 400-yard individual medley at the Big Al invite. She clipped Chong’s program record in 200 individual medley by 0.15 seconds and finished first in the B-final of the 400 individual medley. The Havertown, Pa. native also showcased her impressive versatility — finishing first in the B-final of the 200-yard backstroke as well. The freshman — who is seeded in the top ten for all her events—will be looking to make an impression at her Ivys debut like teammates Moehn and Bergstrom did last year.
After finishing in 6th last year and ending this year’s regular season with 1-6 Ivy record, it will be an uphill battle for the Quakers to challenge returning champion Princeton, and runner-ups Harvard and Yale. It's yet to be see if Kalandadze can help lead the charge in making multiple podiums bleed Red and Blue this year.
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