Princeton women outdistance rival Brown, Tennessee, Villanova and American behind combination of youth and experience

With lots of new faces dominating the women's swimming roster, one might not have expected what happened this weekend. But to the Tigers, the gap left by the graduation of 13 Ivy champion seniors was just a bump in the road in what promises to be another successful season.

Last winter, Princeton dethroned the four-time defending Ivy League champion, Brown. Despite the changes, the Tigers — armed with a dozen fresh faces — already are proving they still have what it takes to blow the competition out of the water.

Going into the Princeton Invitational this weekend, the Tigers knew the competition would be tough and were particularly wary of the formidable Bears. However, Princeton's recruiting efforts proved to be successful, as the youngest swimmers were among the strongest for the Tigers.

In her collegiate swimming debut, freshman Lauren Rossi captured the 200-meter breaststroke, just two seconds in front of sophomore teammate Chrissy Holland.

"The 200 went well," Rossi said. "I think it's so awesome to have someone like Chrissy to race on my own team and then having her right next to me at night was a great way to get up and race. I knew she was going to be right there and I thought if I just stayed up with her in the first 100, I'd see how I could bring it home.

"It was such a close race," Holland added. "We all swam incredible races and I think that every race was like adding fuel to the fire. When you see someone do a best time or have a really good race, you feed off their energy and get fired up for your own race." Another swimmer who fared well was junior Valerie Kukla, who took second in the 1650 free.

"Going into a race, there are tons of things going through my head," Kukla said. "But most of all I'm thinking 'Princeton pride' and that keeps me hungry, excited and confident to swim fast."

The three-day event at DeNunzio Pool attracted accomplished teams from all over the country. Princeton led throughout the weekend and finished 176.5 points ahead of second-place Brown. Capturing third, just 19.5 points behind the Bears, was Tennessee, while Villanova and American finished a distant fourth and fifth, respectively.

The Tigers have proven that they are still a force to be reckoned with. The team doesn't seem to be worried about the pressure of coming in as defending Ivy League champions.

"It is a lot easier being the underdog," Holland admitted. "But I think that this weekend's meet has proved to ourselves that we can be as — if not more — successful than last year and that removes a lot of pressure."

Fresh from their fall training trip to Florida, the Tigers look poised to repeat a stellar season. While last year they were road warriors, they will get to spend much of this year in friendlier waters. Princeton's DeNunzio Pool will host both the all-important H-Y-Ps and the conference championships in Feb-ruary.

After the holidays the Tigers will meet Rutgers Jan. 5 and match up against Ivy-rival Dartmouth Jan. 28. As of Sunday, the Tigers are 3-0 in the Ivy League. Should they be able to hold their dominance over Brown in the Ivy Championships, their most viable other threat looks to be the Harvard Crimson.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

Like Princeton, Harvard has a promising class of recruits and a strong group of experienced swimmers. The Harvard-Yale-Princeton matchup begins Feb. 2 and will likely be a good preview of the Ivy meet that takes place later that month.

The women's swimming team is already well on its way to yet another successful season and will look to its deep talent and cohesiveness to carry it through the winter months and to another Ivy title.