At the beginning of this season, men’s swimming head coach Joe Lucia set out to do something that the Cornell swimming program had not done since 1990 to 1992: finish with a winning record in EISL action for three years in a row. Going into tomorrow’s meet with archrival Brown, Cornell is one win away from doing just that.
“Our conference is pretty tough in terms of swimming,” said senior co-captain Danny Royce. “Any time you have a winning record within the conference, it is a real accomplishment. It is definitely something we have aimed for since the beginning of the season. If we can pull out a win against Brown, it would be the third year in a row and it would be something we are really proud of.”
The Red enter tomorrow’s meet with a 6-4 overall record, including 4-4 in conference. Brown, on the other hand, has a 3-5 record within the EISL and with a win tomorrow, the Bears can tie Cornell in the standings.
“There is a lot on the line here,” said Lucia. “If we win this meet, we will end up at 5-4 and a have a winning record in the league for the third year in a row. If we lose, we are tied for fifth with Brown and theoretically they would be ahead of us. The team wants to take that step and get this done.”
Despite its 3-5 record, the Bears have proven to be a difficult opponent this season. The team is led by senior Jefferson Moors, who finished last week’s meet against Columbia and Yale with two first-place finishes. Although Brown lost those two meets, the team does boast impressive wins over Army, Navy, and Penn. The Bears will not leave Teagle Pool without putting forth a strong effort.
“Again, it will be a really close meet,” said Royce. “At this time of the year, anybody we play is a tough meet. We are really close together in the league and hopefully we will be able to pull this meet out like last week against Dartmouth. It is going to come down to the close races, which are usually the difference in these meets.”
Women
While the men’s team finishes up its schedule with a meet against an EISL rival, the women will travel for its yearly battle against Buffalo. The Bulls have a 7-4 overall record, with a 4-4 mark in Mid-Atlantic Conference play. Cornell will look to hand Buffalo its fifth loss of the season, while improving its record to 4-7.
“We won the meet last year against Buffalo,” said senior co-captain Jayme Majek. “At least since I have been here, it seems that we beat them when we are at home and we lose to them when we are on the road. This year, we are on the road so we are going to give it our best shot.”
Although the team will put forth its best effort tomorrow the Bulls, the Red’s main focus over the last two weeks has been on the Ivy League championships which take place on Feb. 26 at Harvard. The primary purpose of this weekend’s meet will be as a tune-up for the final test of the season.
“We are so focused on the Ivies right now,” said Majek. “This meet is something we have to get up for but it should not become too big of a focus.”
Head coach John Holohan will place each swimmer in the events that he believes are best for each individual. A portion of the Red will be swimming races that they would not normally compete in.
“We are going to try to win, but the next couple of weeks, including this meet, will continue our preparation for the Ivies,” said senior co-captain Aliza Ginsburg.
Archived article by Bryan Pepper