At 11:00 a.m. sharp on Saturday morning, the men’s swimming team officially began its season. Two hours, a pool record in the 400-yard medley relay, and a strong overall team performance later, the Red had defeated its arch-rival Penn by a score of 144-95.
“I thought the team was very mentally prepared and they went in and swam tough in most areas,” said head coach Joe Lucia.
Although the team put forth an inspiring effort, it was not enough to overcome Princeton, as the Red fell by a score of 175-66. However, the meet can be viewed as a success for the Red, as the team took care of business against the Quakers.
“The result is pretty much what we had hoped for,” said senior co-captain Jeremy Sample. “As a team, I think we swam really well.”
Cornell received well-rounded contributions from many swimmers on Saturday. Senior co-captain Danny Royce posted two-second place finishes in both the 200-yard individual medley and breaststroke, while junior Danny Diette placed second in the 200 freestyle. Sample also contributed a third-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle. The strong performances came from the team’s freshman swimmers as well, as the group finished in the top three on five occasions.
The diving team played its part in the victory, as freshman Luke Baer finished second in the one-meter dive and first in the three-meter dive.
But the meet’s highlights were topped off by the 400-yard medley relay team, which finished second overall behind Princeton. Sophomore Stefano Caprara began the race with a pool-record leg of 49.92 seconds. He was followed by freshman Dave McKechnie, junior Doug Ernst, and Sample, as the Red finished the race with a Teagle record of 3:24.97.
Despite, Cornell’s impressive team effort, there still remains room for improvement.
“There were definitely a couple of areas where I wished we had swam a little better, but overall, we performed really well,” said Lucia.
The Red’s next meet is scheduled for today and tomorrow against Binghamton.
“We are moving towards our overall team goals and this is just the first step along the way,” said Sample.
While the men’s team experienced success this weekend, its female counterpart had trouble with Penn and Princeton. The women’s swimming and diving team lost both parts of the dual meet against its Ivy League rivals on Saturday, falling to Princeton 202-90 and Penn 214-86. Despite the eventual outcome, the team was not at all unhappy with its performance.
“Overall, I think we all put forth a much better effort,” said senior co-captain Aliza Ginsburg. “We were a lot more ready for this meet.”
Although the Red dropped to 0-4 on the season, the team showed some promise in several events. In the 100-yard butterfly, Cornell finished first through fourth, with sophomore Holly Chance winning the event followed by Jessica Brookman, senior co-captain Jayme Majek, and Ashley Johnson. Junior Alyson Melin also performed well in the 200-yard individual medley, posting a second-place finish.
“We all swam a lot harder and most of our times got faster,” said Ginsburg.
The diving team also contributed, as Kristin Rayhack finished first against Penn in the one-meter dive. She also finished first against Princeton in the three-meter dive.
Cornell will look to capture its first win of the season today and tomorrow against Binghamton.
“I think we have the right attitude going into the meets, and after Thanksgiving, we just have to get into better shape,” said Ginsburg. “Overall, I think the coach [John Holohan] and ourselves were much happier with our performance.”
Archived article by Bryan Pepper