Men's swimming merciless in defeat of Navy

Naval Academy students spend much of their time learning to harness firepower in aquatic situations. Yet, it was a team of Tigers who blew the Midshipmen out of the Annapolis water on Saturday.

With a resounding 206-80 triumph, the men's swimming team stayed undefeated on the season, improving its record to 8-0.

Coming off a thrilling victory in their biggest meet of the season, and with Eastern Championships just around the bend, it would not have been surprising if Princeton had struggled to find motivation against Navy (6-5).

No such emotional letdown occurred, however, as the Tigers refocused and refused to look past the challenge at hand.

"We treated the meet just like any dual meet," senior captain Carl Hessler said. "It was important to regroup for the next phase of the season after the H-Y-P rollercoaster."

The Tigers dominated the day from start to finish, taking victories in 12 of the 16 events contested.

As has been typical this season, a member of the illustrious senior class led the team. On this day, it was sprinter Jesse Gage who paced the team, winning three events. Gage took home the gold in the 100-meter butterfly, the 50m freestyle, and the 100m freestyle.

Junior backstroker Steve Flemming also had multiple wins for the Tigers. Flemming touched first in both the 100 and 200 meter races.

The rest of the team chipped in as well, as seven more Tiger swimmers each won an individual event.

Princeton took first in all five individual freestyle events. In addition to Gage's two victories in the sprint races, sophomore Justin Chiles and freshman Brian Shue won the 200m and 400m respectively. Senior Paul Cremer completed the sweep, winning the 1500m event.

Ironically, given the team's individual freestyle success, the Tigers lost the 800m freestyle relay, the only team event of the day.

A new record

Juan Valdivieso, a junior, won the 200m butterfly event in a time of 2:00.67. The time set the pool record for the event at Navy.

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His classmate, Chester Yar-brough, brought home the bacon in the 400m Individual Medley, his first individual win of the season. Individual medleys have been among the Tigers' few weak points this season, though a spectator would not have known it after witnessing Princeton's performances against the Midshipmen.

Sophomore Jeremy Tillman won the 100m breakstroke, while the 200m breastroke was the only event in which Princeton failed to place at least one swimmer upon the medal stand.

Sophomore diver Kent DeMond closed out the day with a victory in the platform event, with a score of 327 points. Earlier in the day, the Midshipmen had captured both the one and three meter competitions.

The Tigers did exceptionally well on the afternoon, especially in light of the fact that Navy races in a 25-meter "short-course" pool. Princeton's DeNunzio Pool is 25 yards long — the standard length for collegiate venues — as are all other Ivy League teams' pools. For comparison, summer outdoor (non-collegiate) events are contested in 50-yard pools.

The slightly longer course at the Naval Academy does require adjustment for visiting teams.

"Gauging turns is different," Hessler said. "It can throw you off a bit at first. But you get used to it."

At the end of the day, the only noticeable difference due to the length was the slightly inflated times. For instance, Gage won the 100 freestyle in 50.72 seconds — a time about five seconds behind his average performance for the season.

The Tigers return to the comforts of non-metric DeNunzio Pool this week. On Friday, Princeton squares off against Columbia at 4 p.m. Princeton already faced Columbia this season at December's Princeton Invitational. The Tigers easily won the meet, while the Lions finished a distant sixth. In fact, Princeton scored more than 5 times more points than Columbia that weekend.