W. swimming looks to continue dominance in weekend meets

Just as Caesar's "felices legiones" ravaged the northern territories that threatened his glittering Rome, so will women's swimming launch a three day campaign through the northeast to reinforce their longstanding dominance among their Ivy League rivals and to begin to chase their dream of a fifth consecutive league title.

Competing in their first Ivy League meets of the season, the Tigers will carry their golden standards first to Ithaca, N.Y,. where they will face Penn and Cornell. Having trounced its competition last weekend in Hadrian-esque fashion, Princeton is approaching these meets with the reserved confidence of a well-seasoned general, aware of its own strength, but ever wary of its opponents.

"Cornell is reasonably weak this year, and I don't think they'll be a threat to us," head coach Susan Teeter said. "Penn will definitely be in the hunt. They have done a superb job building their program and have brought in a lot of great freshmen. If you don't take them seriously, they are the kind of team that will beat you."

Courtesies aside, Princeton is still an overwhelming favorite against these first two opponents. Boasting an incredibly skilled group of incoming freshmen, coupled with a strongly established core of returning swimmers, Princeton has a pool of talent more diverse than the foodstuffs at an imperial banquet on the Palatine Hill.

"We had a number of people stand out early," Teeter said. "Last weekend Stephanie Hsiao was exceptional, and Michelle DeMond, a freshman diver, came within ten points of the Princeton school record on her first performance. We're very happy with our early contests."

Even more impressive than the Tigers' depth, however, is the flexibility of skill that this Princeton squad boasts, a factor impressive enough to allow Teeter to not even set a semipermanent lineup. Instead of using last weekend as a chance to firm up each of her swimmers in a few specific events, Teeter rotated folks into a variety of events to really see what her epicurean feast of a team could do.

"Last weekend was more of an opportunity to race than to solidify the lineup," Teeter said. "Most everybody swam something they usually don't swim."

Whether it be equites or pedites, sagitarii or legionarii, this proverbial army has all the necessary and versatile components to perfectly wage their athletic war.

But this weekend, the war will be an extended one. After their meet on Saturday, the Tigers will march to Providence, R.I., to face a defiant Brown, their toughest competition to date.

"Brown has Liz Daniels, the top female sprinter in the league," Teeter said. "She's a great competitor, and you want to beat or avoid her. She's just an extraordinary swimmer, and we certainly have to give her and her team a lot of respect."

This long weekend of continuous competition and tedious traveling will be Princeton's most strenuous endeavour to date, and Brown, one of the demigods hoping to knock Princeton from the sky, could definitely take advantage of the Tigers' fatigue.

With a good deal of competition and traveling on its hands and three meets to capture, Princeton, more than anything, just needs to swim well as a team.

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"There's not a person on my roster that doesn't need to step up and make this season happen," Teeter said. "It's gonna take all of us to do it."

Emerging, hopefully victorious, from the weekend's skirmishes, the Tigers will cross their metaphorical Rubicon and charge back to Princeton shouting "alea jacta est" as they prepare to fight in their own territory and host the Princeton Invitational.

If they can live up to expectations and pull through this weekend, the Tigers will have started sowing the salt in the Carthaginian fields of their opponents, having knocked off three of their Ivy League competitors and moving one step closer to yet another Ivy League title.

"We just need to swim fast and focus on what Princeton teams do best," Teeter said. "That's showing a lot of class and having a lot of pride."