For the last five years, the men's swimming and diving team has finished its season in the same undesirable place — second, always looking up at the Eastern's champion.
The champion of that meet for the last five years has been Harvard.
But this year, with a deep core of experienced and talented seniors, along with a large group of skilled freshmen, Princeton hopes to reverse the outcome of years past.
"We are striving to slowly pick away at Harvard, who has been the main powerhouse in the East for the past several years," head coach Rob Orr said.
This year, the team will rely on its balance in order to achieve its goal of finally toppling the Crimson.
Princeton has already taken a big step on its road to a win at Easterns.
In their first meet of the season, the Tigers dominated both Penn and Cornell Nov. 18 in Ithaca, N.Y. Princeton came away with two huge victories, defeating Penn 191-52 and Cornell 187-56.
'Strong performance'
"Going into a meet, our coach always points out all the possible outcomes, even the less desirable ones," junior freestyler Kevin Volz said. "That meet was not nearly as close at it could have been. It was a strong performance by everyone."
Though the Tigers lost the leadership and abilities of Matt Janson '00 and Jamie Holder '00 to graduation, this year's seniors are willing to step into their places.
"This is the largest and most talented senior class I've had since I've been at Princeton," Orr said. "I'm looking to the whole class to take on the leadership role."
The Tigers will especially look to seniors Andrew Chadeayne and Matt Harrigan to lead with their performances in the pool.
Harrigan brought home three first-place finishes from the Nov. 18 meet — in the 200-meter breaststroke, the 200m individual medley and the 400m medley relay.
Chadeayne, who has posted times in the Tigers' record book, took home a second-place finish in the 200m backstroke, as well.
Speedy frosh
The seniors are not the only ones with talent. This year's freshman class is loaded with speed and endurance.
"We have outstanding freshmen, who have already proven themselves valuable," Volz said.
The most notable new face on the Tiger team is freshman Juan Valdivieso, who arrived at school late this year because he had been representing Peru in the Olympics in swimming.
"Valdivieso shows a lot of versatility," Orr said.
In the Penn-Cornell meet, the freshman proved his flexibility. He brought home two second-place finishes in very different events: the 1000m freestyle and the 200m fly.
Another freshman who came up with a strong performance in the season's first meet was Steve Fleming, who won the 200m backstroke event.
This year the Tigers will not need to rely soley on their youngest and oldest classes. Some of their strongest performances will come from sophomores and juniors.
Volz will be important in the distance freestyle events. Against the Quakers and the Big Red, he came through, winning the 1000m and the 500m freestyle events. Volz is the all-time Princeton record holder in the 1000m freestyle.
Another junior who will score in the short freestyle and backstroke events for the Tigers is Chris Cunningham. Cunningham started off the season with a win in the 200m freestyle.
The strongest sophomore will be Jesse Gage, who set the Princeton record for the 100m fly as a freshman. Gage will contribute in most sprint events. He took home a victory in the 50m freestyle against Penn and Cornell.
The Tigers will need this depth in all four classes if they hope to overcome both Harvard and history at Easterns.
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