Women's swimming favored in Ivy League Championships at DeNunzio

Like a runner that bolts out of the starting gate and stays out in front, the Princeton women's swimming team has set its own pace this season. Time and again, the Tigers have toppled personal expectations to the amazement even of themselves, achieving a cavalcade of great times and leaving opponents to flounder in their wake.

"Basically, when we came out at the beginning of the seaon against [main rival] Brown, we swam out of our minds," senior captain Schuyler Holmes said. "Then at H-Y-P's we came in and swam even faster than at Brown."

"Now, we have one more shot to see how high we can go."

With only one wall left to scale, the undefeated Tigers enter the Ivy Championships this weekend at DeNunzio Pool as the clear favorite — but are not overestimating themelves and what they need to do to win.

"The team is confident, but we know Brown is a very good team," Holmes said. "We just need to rise to the occasion and race like we have been since the beginning."

If yesterday's preliminaries are any indication of how the meet will progress, Princeton looks primed to retain the status of Ivy Champions. In prelims, junior Val Kukla shattered her old 500-yard freestyle record by over three seconds, seeding in first place for the finals with a time of 4 minutes, 49.56 seconds. Kukla improved on that time in the finals swimming a 4:49.49, but fell to second place after a spectacular performance by Brown's Jean Lee.

Even in an event like the 200 individual medley — considered a Tiger weak point, a Bear strong point and one of the most competitive events all around — Princeton has found its way to the top of the standings. Junior backstroker Kate Conroy powered her way to first in prelims with a personal best of 2:03.74. Conroy took third in the finals while teammate, sophomore Chrissy Holland, finished fifth.

"Both of those girls just have such natural talent in all four strokes so that they are strong competitors in the IM as well as their stroke events," Holmes said. The Tigers had one especially bright spot on the first night, finishing first in the 400 medley relay.

Conroy and Holland, respectively, spearhead the Tiger dominance in the backstroke and breaststroke, arguably Princeton's best events. Conroy, sophomore Michelle Nielson and junior Joceyln Petrella are responsible for three of the six fastest times in Ivy League this season in the 100 and 200 backstroke. This should translate into big points and overcome some of the weaker patches in the Tiger lineup.

In both breaststroke events, a similar situation exists. Princeton expects not only Holland but senior Kristen Szumera and freshman Lauren Rossi to be top eight finishers.

Another essential part of the Tiger force will be the diving team. Unsung heroes throughout most of the season, Princeton divers compile important points behind the scenes, and the depth of the diving squad could pay off big dividends this weekend. Led by the leadership and consistency of senior Erin Lutz, the Tigers have high expectations for the squad that placed five of its divers in the Top 8 in both oneand three-meter competition at last year's Ivy Championships.

"I don't know whether we can repeat last year's feat, but I know that they are ready to step it up and make quite an impact on the [score] board," head diving coach Gregg Gunn said.

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All in all, Princeton has proven itself to be a prime-time competitor this season, setting a pace that the rest of the Ivy League has been unable to match. But no one holds anything back down the final stretch and the Tigers are well aware of that.

"Each team has a couple of people that shine and you never know who is going to have an amazing swim and spoil everything," Holmes said. "That's why the only thing to do is swim every event like it's the final event and touch out whatever opponent are in our sights — it's just that simple."