Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the big show. The Princeton men's swimming and diving team dares eight Eastern teams to try their hand against the fierce Tigers this weekend in their home pool. The team, which has never lost a meet racing in DeNunzio, seeks to continue this winning tradition as it hosts the annual Princeton Invitation this weekend.
The wild ruckus begins Friday and ends Sunday. Competitors include Villanova, Rutgers, American, Boston College, Rider, St. Johns, College of New Jersey and Columbia. Among the pack, Columbia and Rutgers are expected to put up a fight, but overall the competition will be more worried about the undefeated Princeton swimmers.
The Tigers are well aware that they are defending more than just an undefeated season, but also a long history of victories in the home pool.
Since its construction in 1990, DeNunzio Pool has been recognized nationwide as one of the most state-of-the-art pools in the country. Along with being one of the fastest pools to race in, DeNunzio is also home to one of the fastest teams in the Ivy League. With a 3-0 record after wins against Brown, Cornell, and Penn, the Tigers plan to extend their powerful start and ring in more championship races this weekend.
Last year at this time, the Tigers marked their territory, sending all the visiting teams home in despair. Dominating from start to finish, the Invitational resulted in an overwhelming victory for Princeton. With a victorious historical record thus far in DeNunzio, many swimmers are excited to race their fastest races yet this weekend.
As an invitational, the nature of this meet is more focused on individual performances as opposed to team results. Swimmers will let loose in their best events, using this competition as an opportunity to break personal records.
However, due to a glitch in the scheduling this season, the Columbia-Princeton dual meet will also be incorporated into the scoring at the Invitational. The meet against Columbia, which is usually held on a separate occasion, has been removed from the regular schedule so Princeton will not only be racing for individual performances but also to notch a fourth win against an Ivy League opponent this season.
The Princeton Invitational is a relatively early meet in the season, and thus a time when swimmers get a chance to show off the speed they have been harvesting all fall. For the freshmen it is an excellent chance to get their feet wet in the realm of college swimming and get some long-awaited exposure to fast racing. And for experienced swimmers it is all about taking pride in hosting the event and defending the home pool.
Gracing the DeNunzio pool with their first race of the 2003-2004 season, the Tigers have been preparing for the the Princeton Invitational since the beginning of the season. Looking for breakthrough times and competitive spirits, this meet offers the perfect environment to send a tidal wave of fear across the world of college swimming as Princeton racers look to produce unseen speed.
With a hellish training season behind them, the Tigers are prepared to show off the depth of their team at home.
The weekend is divided into a six-session meet consisting of two sessions a day over the three-day period. Starting Friday, each morning will have a preliminary race in separate events. The top 16 finishers of the morning events move onto finals in the evening.
Despite gaining momentum in the first weekend of racing Nov. 22-23, Thanksgiving break somewhat disrupted the flow of training leaving the team on its own over Nov. 29-30. Even with this short interruption, the Tigers are confident that they can defend DeNunzio in the upcoming race. It will be a test of character, fitness and heart as the Tigers prepare to wallop the competition in the first home meet of the season.
After this weekend, Princeton is off until it travels to the University of Pittsburgh on Jan. 5. After that, the team will have another 20-day layoff before entering the heart of its season on January 25 at home against Dartmouth.
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