Men's, women's swimming glide to easy H-Y-P wins

"Princeton relay! Princeton relay!" was the battle cry that brought the orange-clad audience to its feet last Saturday. Hosting the annual Harvard-Princeton-Yale meet also known as H-Y-Ps, the Tigers provided an intense and gratifying show for all the spectators who trekked down to the waters of DeNunzio Pool this past weekend.

Displaying NCAA-qualifying times and competitive racing, every Princeton swimmer did his or her part to topple the Harvard swimmers and sink the Yale competition over the weekend.

The men's team triumphed in the double dual meet vanquishing undefeated Harvard, 192-161, and taking down Yale, 272-79. Harvard defeated Yale as well, 245-107. The stronger opposing force came from the Crimson swim team, but its speed was nothing the Tigers couldn't handle. Princeton knew Harvard would be the team to outrace in H-Y-Ps. Rigorous training and good preparation gave the Tigers a chance to swim their fastest races of the season.

Princeton finished day one with six wins out of 10 events and, with a good night's rest, came back Saturday with more ambition to assert the home team pride. On day two, Princeton landed five first-place finishes in nine events.

Very memorable in the minds of Princeton fans, swimming alumni and teammates alike was the second-to-last event of the meet, the 200-yard breaststroke. This close, suspenseful race, followed by an eventual Tiger triumph, reflected the meet as a whole.

Junior Evan Delaney led the race throughout, closely tailed by a Harvard swimmer. The crowd pulsed as the breaststrokers remained cool and focused, gliding through the water. As spectators reached a fever pitch, Delaney smacked the wall to take first place, clocking in less than a second in front of Harvard and three Princeton teammates. Juniors Thorn Bachi and Jeremy Tillman and senior Hallet Johnson took third, fourth and fifth respectively to round off the exciting race.

Freshman Meir Hasbani was untouchable Saturday, winning three events for Princeton and showing that the Tigers don't mess around on race day.

An overall thrilling meet with fast races and a full house to watch the spectacle continued the winning streak for the Princeton men's swimming and diving team, and up next the Tigers host Kenyon and Navy this weekend. The women's team bounced back from a painful, streak-ending loss to Pittsburgh with a comeback more impressive than that of the "post-Vito" Corleones'. The Tigers beat Dartmouth and then swept H-Y-Ps, setting themselves up to end the season on a high note heading into NCAA competition.

Princeton's first win came a week ago against Dartmouth, as the Tigers invited the Big Green down to DeNunzio to compete in their fourth Ivy League matchup of the year.

The Tigers easily won the meet, dedicated to the seniors, by a score of 173-118. Competition was highlighted by the excellent performances of seniors Lisa Battaglia, who won the 50 yard backstroke, and Sarah Frauman, who took first in the 100 yard freestyle. Junior Stephanie Hsiao and freshman Sobenna George also stood out with two first-place finishes apiece, giving the Tigers an easy position from which to claim final victory.

A week later, also at home, Princeton welcomed Yale and a highly anticipated Harvard team to compete in the annual HYP's, always a benchmark meet for the squad. With this year's Ivy League title in the balance and a potential five-year league title winning streak, the Tigers needed to come up with a strong win to wrap up the major competition of the season.

In an unexpectedly one-sided meet, Princeton defeated both Yale and Harvard by respective scores of 208.5-110.5 and 214-105, dominating on all fronts.

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Hsiao made another tremendous showing, taking first place in the 200 yard individual medley, the 100 yard freestyle, and the 100 yard breaststroke. Frauman also took several events, winning the 500 and 100 yard freestyle races.

The Crimson, predicted to be a top contender for the Ivy League title and the Tigers' chief competitor, ended up defeating Yale, but only by the close score of 162-157.

As F. Scott Fitzgerald once said, "Yale is November, crisp and energetic," and "Harvard seems sort of indoors." The crisp and indoors months of winter, however, are passing, and as the winter season ends, Princeton, "like a spring day... lazy and good-looking and aristocratic," is again coming into its element. Riding on the momentum of an H-Y-Ps win, the Tigers should finish the season with another league title, an impressive routing of Harvard, and a terrific springboard to launch them into NCAAs.