As year ends, women's swimming preps for next

With the first half of its season winding to a close, the Renaissance era of Princeton swimming — characterized by the diversified talent, constantly improving skill and ever loftier goals for the team — still appears to have the wind in its sails as it heads into the new year with enthusiasm and uncertainty. As the swimmers head home for Winter Break, they will already be contemplating their meets yet to come and preparing for their next exploration into the trying unknowns of what could be a very competitive HYPs.

So far this year, self-improvement more dramatic than Vermeer's color contrasts has been the name of the game. The Tigers have logged a tremendous number of lifetime bests, especially during their last meet, the Princeton Invitational. Demonstrating skill as conspicuously as Michelangelo did with his David, hopes are high for another strong season in the Ivy League, one that could extend the Tigers' winning streak to five league championships.

"I think this past weekend showed that the team is at a good point in the season right now," sophomore Eileen Altenburger said. "We had a lot of personal bests and everyone in general had a good feeling about this meet."

But even with such good tidings, Princeton is becoming increasingly concerned about its upcoming confrontation with Harvard.

"Based on Harvard's current results, they have a very strong team," Altenburger said. "Because of their very strong freshman class, Harvard should be our biggest competition this year in both HYPs and Ivies."

Having topped Brown by a score greater than Princeton's own victory against the Bears earlier in the season, Harvard is shaping up to be a rival as threatening to the established Tigers as the fledgling Raphael was to the tenured Leonardo.

"I think we stack up dead even with Harvard," head coach Susan Teeter said. "They have a lot of depth and really young versatile talent. They're a good program and are going to keep us honest. That's what Ivy League competition is all about."

Nonetheless, experience and precedent, as well as a steady trend of improving times, continue to bolster Princeton's confidence at this critical mid-season juncture.

"I think, across the board, everyone has been stepping it up in practice and performing," Altenburger said. "As far as Harvard is concerned, I think this year will be a lot closer. We won't win by the 150 points we did last year, but in the end, our team is a lot stronger. We have more depth and want it more than they do. We have a tradition to uphold."

But before Princeton takes on its Ivy League opponents, it first needs to head to Pittsburgh and take on the Panthers, a team that could just as easily end the Tigers' dual-meet winning streak as any team in the Ivy League. In this new addition to its schedule, Princeton is hoping to recover from any after-break slump, get a measure of its skill and fuel its competitive drives.

"We like adding another team that's of high quality," Teeter said. "Pittsburg is equal to or a step above Harvard's talent. It gives us a measure of how we'll compete, and we're hoping to use that meet to shake off the holidays and get ready to race again."

With more than several important meets looming, Princeton, however, is still looking at the season in the long-run. Cognizant of the importance of sending swimmers to the NCAAs, the Tigers understand that a lack of representation in this final competition could overshadow their successes more potently than investment in the gold florin soured the finances of the Medicis. That said, Princeton has more than a few prospects looking to make a trip to College Station, Texas this March.

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"Right now Sarah Fraumann is ranked 18th in the nation in the mile and Stephanie Hsiao is 20th in the nation in the 100 yard breast," Teeter said. "Those are both excellent rankings this early in the year, and we have three or four other people sitting just on the edge of making NCAAs."

With so many opportunities up for the taking, Princeton knows that this is their own proverbial Renaissance, a golden age in which, in the words of Altenburger, "we are swimming faster than we have ever before." For the Tigers, this new year will truly be the time when their more-than-apparent talent can truly come to fruition with Venetian distinction and Florentine flair.