Going into the final event of the Ivy League Championships the women's swimming and diving team had been nearly perfect all year. The Tigers were 6–0 in league meets and 10–1 overall. But as freshmen Nikki Laffel, Sobenna George, Kelly Hannigan, and senior Sarah Fraumann took the blocks before the start of the 400-yard freestyle relay in the final event of the meet, the Tigers' previous victories were the last thing on these swimmers' minds.
Over three days of competition which took place in Cambridge, Mass., Princeton had accumulated a small advantage over their chief rivals, Harvard and Yale. In the end though, to defend their Ivy League title and continue their unbeaten streak, the Tigers would have to make one final stand and finish ahead of Harvard in the final event.
The relay was close to the very end. Princeton and Harvard traded advantages in the the first 200 yards before the Tigers took control in the second half. Princeton finished third in the race, which was good enough as they pulled in a second ahead of Harvard to take home the overall Ivy League title.
The final standings for the meet were Princeton first (1,361 points), Harvard second (1,344 points), and Yale third (1,211 points).
The Tigers got off to a strong start on the first day of competition. In the second event of the day, the 500-yd. freestyle, Fraumann took first place with a final time of 4 minutes, 50.49 seconds, two ticks ahead of her nearest competitor.
Junior Stephanie Hsiao and Hannigan kept the momentum rolling in the next event, the 200-yd. individual medley. Hsiao finished first with a time of 2:02.59 and Hannigan third, just under two seconds behind her.
Princeton finished the day with another victory in the 400-yd. medley relay. Despite Princeton's individual and medley successes, at the end of the first day the Tigers trailed Harvard by 26 points.
"We had some great swims the first day and we were determined to come back and get the lead on the second day," Fraumann said.
Princeton opened the second day by taking first in the 200-yd. medley relay through the combined efforts of Senior Lisa Battaglia, Hsiao, Hannigan, and George. The victory pulled the Tigers within 10 points of Harvard in the overall standings.
Hannigan's victory in the 400-yd. individual medley pulled the Tigers even closer, but it wasn't until the 100-yd. breaststroke that Princeton took the lead. The team took four out of the top five spots, with Hsiao taking the individual honors. By the end of the day, Princeton had taken the overall lead, holding a 16.5 point advantage going into the final day.
Fraumann made it clear that Princeton was not about to leave anything to chance in the day's first event. She won the 1,650-yd. freestyle by over 10 seconds with a final time of 16:36.04. Later in the day Hsiao won again in the 200-yd. breaststroke. Despite these victories, Harvard had begun to crawl its way back up the standings.
Heading into the final events it appeared that the Tigers would have to win the 400-yd. freestyle relay to retain their title. However, freshman diver Michelle Demond gave the Tigers some breathing room by finished second in the three meter dive.
The championship was decided by Princeton's final effort in the 400-yd. freestyle relay.
In many ways, the relay team of freshmen Laffel, George, Hannigan and senior Fraumann was the perfect representation of this year's team and their performance at the Ivy League Championships.
"It was incredible to have the entire team step up and rise to the occasion," Fraumann said. "We wanted to win it for everyone on the team."
The team's victory came as a result of the combined contribution of all of the team's swimmers, from seniors to freshmen. Although several swimmers had some very important individual victories, the final championship came as a result of a tremendous collective effort.
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