Swim teams prepare for postseason

As the impressive 2003-2004 regular season comes to a close for the swimming and diving teams, the Tigers are beginning to set their sights on several postseason accolades that are now within their grasp. Both the women's team (10-1 overall, 7-0 Ivy League), which finished its season last week with a decisive win over Columbia, and the men's team (8-1, 7-0 Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League) are preparing for their fast-approaching conference tournaments.

After a disappointing loss to Harvard in the conference title meet last year, the men's team is looking for a more successful finish this season. Coming off a regular season win over Harvard, thus repeating their 2003 dual meet championship, the Tigers' expectations are high for the Eastern Conference tournament, which will be held at Princeton in early March.

"It's going to be really close this year," freshman standout Meir Hasbani, one of the 17 swimmers competing in Easterns, said. "I think we can pull it off, but we can't rest on our laurels. They're going to be fast, and they've been ranked ahead of us in the polls all year long."

The women's squad is at least as confident as the men's team. After winning their fourth straight Ivy title last season and going 6-0 against fellow Ivy leaguers this year, the Tigers are excited to get postseason competition underway. Their two toughest competitors will be Brown and Harvard, who they beat this regular season by scores of 178-122 and 214-105, respectively.

"Harvard is really good this year and they will certainly be a challenge at Ivies," senior distance swimmer Sarah Fraumann said. "But we've been swimming really well too, and we beat them in the dual meet season."

But despite the optimism and elevated expectations, the real story of the teams' journeys has been their incredible success in a year that was primarily meant for rebuilding. After graduating what was one of the most impressive senior classes in the history of the swimming program, the Tigers had to rely on the depth of their squads and the talent of their freshmen.

"The class that graduated last year was amazing, probably the fastest class Princeton has ever seen, so we really had to rebuild this year," Hasbani said.

The teams' depth has proved over and over again to be the heart of the thriving program. "Though you can never replace certain classes," Fraumann said, "we have a great group of freshmen who swim fast, have so much energy and who are doing an incredible job."

With at least six women's swimmers and one diver looking to stampede the NCAA tournament this year, pride and satisfaction are certainly justified for the strong squad.

The teams are focusing on their respective conference titles first and foremost, however. In preparation for the big events, the teams are beginning an important tapering program. The swimmers will slowly begin to decrease the intensity of their workouts over the next couple of weeks. Their practices will gradually be lighter and their weight sessions easier. This unique practice regiment is designed to increase the swimmers' energy as much as possible so they are fresh for the meet. By the time the big day rolls around, the athletes should be swimming faster and with more energy.

The Tigers, new and experienced, are dedicated to whatever is demanded of the, and are excited about the opportunities the next month will afford them.