Sophomore Izzy Pytel placed first in the 100-yard backstroke event against Rider with a time of 59.02 at Sheerr Pool on Jan. 27.
Credit: Samantha TurnerThe weather may be getting colder, but the Penn community is heading back the pool to watch women’s swimming and diving in an another exciting season that opens this Saturday with a tri-meet against the University of Richmond and East Carolina University.
A unique aspect of this season — outside of the athletes — is that Penn men’s and women’s swimming and diving are now practicing at the West Philadelphia YMCA and Drexel pools due to ongoing yearlong construction on Sheerr Pool, which is located at Pottruck Health and Fitness Center. Both teams only have one home meet at the Drexel pool in November, which will be against Princeton and Cornell.
On the athlete side of things, one major storyline for the season is the impact of the loss of 2024 graduate Anna Kalandadze. The Daily Pennsylvanian’s Women’s Senior Athlete of the Year qualified for NCAA Championships in all three of her seasons with the Quakers. She ended her remarkable career with a fourth-place finish at NCAAs and an appearance at the 2024 Olympic Trials.
Despite her departure, this season’s top returners are women who were strong Nos. 2 behind Kalandadze in her events last season and are ready to take the reins this year.
First up is junior freestyler Anna Moehn. The Alton, Ill. native claimed two silver medals behind Kalandadze in the 500-yard and 1650-yard freestyle at last year’s Ivy League Championships and ended her season with a debut at NCAA Championships in those events. Moehn will headline the famed Quaker distance group that has swept multiple podiums in previous years. Fellow junior freestyler Sydney Bergstrom will also be one to watch.
Another top returner is sophomore backstroke/freestyle/individual medley specialist Katya Eruslanova. The Havertown, Pa. native made an immediate splash in her first season with the Red and Blue. At last year’s mid-season invitational, Eruslanova broke the program record in the 200-yard I.M. and lowered that record just three months later. Last season, she was the second fastest behind Kalandadze in the 400-yard I.M. At Ivys, Eruslanova won the B final in all of her individual events — swimming times faster than some of the A finalists. It will be exciting to see her if she can improve her preliminary swims this season to break into the A finals or possibly onto the podium at Ivys in March.
Another storyline to follow is senior breaststroker Izzy Pytel in her final season with the Red and Blue. The Naperville, Ill. native is the current program record holder in the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke, and she has lowered that record in the past two seasons. This upcoming championship season will be her last chance to break onto the podium in her events after several close calls and many A finals in past championships.
Even without a pool this season, the Quakers attracted a lot of young talent that will make an immediate impact — hopefully supporting the team’s effort to improve upon its 4-6 overall and 1-6 conference records. This year’s freshman class is headlined by freshman butterfly and freestyle specialist Kayla Fu and freshman freestyle and breaststroke specialist Maggie Hu.
Originally from Sugar Land, Texas, Fu was a high-profile recruit who will likely now have an eventful first season with the Red and Blue. Fu’s current best time of 52.86 in the 100-yard fly is under the current program record. In addition, her best 50-yard free time of 22.56 and 100-yard free time of 49.03 would’ve been the fastest times of the season for the Quakers last year. Fu likely had no trouble adjusting to the team as her brother is junior butterfly and breaststroke specialist Alexander Fu on the Penn men’s swimming and diving team.
Hailing from more close by, Hu is a two-time Maryland state champion in the 50 free and 200 free and a USA Swimming Scholastic All-American. Eerily similar to Fu, her best 50 free time sits at 22.73, which will help keep Penn competitive in the freestyle relays.
Another notable newcomer is butterfly and backstroke specialist Erica Maltsev, who is keeping the pipeline from club swim team Greater Somerset County YMCA to Penn swimming and diving strong. Sophomore backstroke and individual medley specialist Charlotte Holliday and senior breaststroker Matt Fallon came from the same club team.
On the diving side, freshman Rachel Yang joins the small but mighty team. Yang has two state championships under her belt — experience that will be no doubt be valuable this upcoming season.
Even without Sheerr Pool, the 2024-25 Penn women’s swimming and diving team looks to be a strong one who is ready to put in the work to come out on top this season.
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