Both Swimming Squads Host Rival Binghamton

Tomorrow, Cornellians get one of their only chances this season to see the men’s and women’s swimming teams compete at home in Teagle Pool. With both teams competing against Binghamton, the meet also marks the last opportunity for both teams to lock in a realistic victory before winter break.
Last year, the men took home a 175-122 victory. They are expecting to repeat that victory again tomorrow.
“In the past, we’ve normally beat Binghamton by quite a large margin, so we’re definitely going in expecting to win,” said junior co-captain Wes Newman. “It shouldn’t be that close of a meet so we’ll really just be challenging ourselves.”
Expecting the meet to be a shoe-in gives the men’s team a chance to mix up the normal lineup and have the men swim in different events than the one’s they usually compete in all season.
“It’ll be interesting to see how everyone does in events that aren’t necessarily their best,” Newman said. “It also helps the swimmers, doing different events and practicing different strokes.”
Since it’s not a league meet and to avoid competitors sitting around with dead time, the divers will compete first all at once followed by the swimming events, with men and women alternating events. Most of all, the men are looking forward to a fun and high-energy meet, mentioning that they are friendly with competitor Binghamton. The meet will also be the first home collegiate meet for the freshmen.
“We’re looking forward to having a home meet, it definitely brings a different energy to the pool,” Newman remarked.
The women’s team also won the meet against Binghamton last year 191-108, and are looking to repeat that victory to pick up their second dual meet win of the season tomorrow. After falling to both Princeton and Penn two weeks ago, the Red is excited for the opportunity to win.
“We expect the team to be competitive and we’re shooting to win the meet,” said Coach John Holohan. “They’re [Binghamton] a lot stronger than they were last year.”
In particular, the Red will see competition in the backstroke and butterfly events. Although the outcome of the diving events can be pretty much figured out on paper, Binghamton also has a top diver on their team, which will prove especially competitive for the Red’s more experienced divers.
“Gretchen [Schroeder] had a really good meet against Penn,” Holohan said. “This will be a good competitive match for the divers.”
The biggest challenge the Red is expecting to face for this meet is keeping the team focused on the meet.
“It’s easier to prepare on the Road,” Holohan said.
The teams are also especially tired at this time of year between training, competing, and the crunch of the end of the school year. With an early warm-up on Saturday and a team breakfast, Holohan hopes to get the team mentally prepared for the meet.
“Everyone tries to stay in their normal routine when they’re home.” Holohan said. “We’re trying to duplicate some of the better things of traveling on the road.”
After this meet, both teams will continue to train in Ithaca until the 20th. With double practices the teams will be practicing four to five hours a day before heading off to Puerto Rico in January to continue training as well as compete in an invitational.