Women's swimming stretches streak to 32 with victory over Columbia

An undefeated season.

A goal so unobtainable only one team in the National Football League has ever accomplished it. The members of the 1972 Miami Dolphins meet every year when the last remaining undefeated team that season loses its first game to toast another year alone in their perfection.

If the Fins had been a women's swimming team, they would have stopped toasting four years ago.

The senior women swimmers started the year with one special goal: becoming the first class to go undefeated in dual-meet action. Eight straight victories over their Ivy rivals would allow them to make history. As the months went by, they defeated all their opponents, but there was one more left: Columbia.

And on Saturday, in what was one of the closest dual-meets of the season, the Tigers conquered the Lions.

Princeton (8-0 overall, 7-0 Ivy League) won its 32nd straight meet of the season with a score of 153-140, defeating Columbia in New York, N.Y. Even though the Lions were strong enough to win seven events, they were unable to overcome Princeton's talent and depth and ended succumbing to the Tigers.

Similar to the rest of the season, the freshmen were fantastic.

Freshman Chrissy Macaulay led a 1-2-3 Princeton finish in the 200-yard breaststroke and freshman Amy Jones led a sweep of the 500-yard freestyle as they competed in the last meet of their first year.

The sophomore swimmers also contributed many points for the team. Katie Kopil, Katie Kuga, and Meredith Saylor all placed in the top spots of different races. Kopil captured the 100-yard butterfly in 59.30, Kuga won the 100-yard breaststroke, and Saylor placed second in both the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke events.

In addition, sophomores Claire Pearson and Stephanie Wright were declared victorious in the 100-yard backstroke and the 400 individual medley, respectively.

Junior Molly Seto represented her class with a win in the 200-yard freestyle, stopping the clock at 1:55.84. Senior teammate Sandra Kamholz took second in that same event with a time of 1:56.25. In the last dual meet of their undergraduate career, seniors Ann-Marie Casperite and Kate Conroy also played important roles. Casperite won the 100-yard freestyle in 54.26, while Conroy was part of the 200-freestyle and 200-medley relay teams that achieved a victory.

Columbia's freshman swimmer Teresa Herrmann was the diving star of the day thanks to her score of 300.075 in the one-meter competition, breaking the Uris Pool record set in 2000 by Princeton's own Danielle Stramandi.

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Herrmann also finished third in the three-meter dive with a score of 272.25. The race was won by another Columbia first-year, Grace Coyle, who scored 287.925 to top senior Katherine Mattison of Princeton, who had 279.375.

The Lions' other winners included Lucy Eccleston in the 200 butterfly, 2:09.11; Jessica Braun in the 50 freestyle, 24.28; Gretchen Plank in the 200 backstroke (2:08.37); and Meredith Dunn in the 100 individual medley, 1:01.09.

Columbia finished second in the meet's final event, the 200 freestyle relay, but were credited with first place because Princeton swam unofficially.

Columbia's team, consisting of Sarah Hodulik, Katie DiBlasi, Marie Lehner, and Jessica Braun, was timed in 1:39.14.

Princeton finishes 8-0 in dual-meet action and 7-0 in the Ivy League. The Tigers now focus their attention to the Ivy League Championships, which will take place from Thursday-Saturday Feb. 21-23 at Cambridge, Mass.

With one more goal accomplished, Princeton now faces one last challenge: sending the largest amount of swimmers to the NCAA Championships that will take place in Austin, Texas beginning March 21.