Seeking revenge, Tigers host Ivys

The women's swimming and diving team will have revenge on its mind as teams from across the Ivy League gather at DeNunzio Pool this weekend for the Ivy League Swimming and Diving Championships.

Before January, Princeton had not dropped a meet to any league competitor since the 1997-98 season. But on Jan. 29 of this year during the annual H-Y-P meet, Harvard handed the Tigers a sound and shocking defeat, 203-116.

The Crimson is still undefeated and has captured this year's regular season dual-meet title, which Princeton has had a stranglehold on for the past five years. The Tigers have also won the past five Ivy League championship meets, but the last time the Crimson won was in 1992, a drought that is sure to provide more than enough motivation for it to swim strongly this weekend.

In addition to seeking revenge and redemption, defending the tradition of championship titles and performing well in front of the home crowd will give Princeton its reason to compete with fire. The loss to Harvard occurred at Yale, and the Tigers' home-pool advantage bodes well for their ability to reestablish their position at the apex of the Ivy League.

"Since it's on campus, we have a lot of family, friends and alumni coming," senior co-captain Stephanie Hsiao said. "We'll just try to keep that momentum and excitement up."

Though the Crimson fared better in the dual meet format a month ago, in which only places 1-5 can score, Princeton has more depth. This strength serves them better in the conference meet format, in which the top 16 places can score. Each swimmer gets three individual events, and with the top two teams closer than they have been in years, every lap counts. Finishing eighth to 16th only carries a few points of swing between the places, but this meet has the potential to come down to these few precious points.

While the battle between the Crimson and Princeton is the marquee attraction at the Ivy championships, Yale, Penn and Columbia are waiting in the wings, hoping to quietly collect enough points to steal the title away from the two powerhouses. Each of these squads has steadily improved its times over the course of the season.

Still, the Tigers are confident about their chances against these teams. They downed the Quakers, 205-95, when they faced off against each other on Nov. 19 and beat the Bulldogs at the H-Y-P meet by a 192-127 score. Most recently, the Tigers narrowly defeated the Lions, 115-98.

With these past successes in mind, Princeton's goals are high for the meet.

"This is our first big shave-and-taper meet this year," Hsiao said. "We're hoping for everyone to come up with personal best times. And to win, obviously."

The Tigers partially blamed their earlier loss on fatigue, something they should not have to endure this time around. Princeton has had three weeks off since its final regular season meets against Kenyon and Columbia, and the team has spent that time resting and honing its collective skills.

If the Tigers can put all that practice to good use, they could begin a new streak with a victory this weekend.

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"You always kind of want to keep [the winning tradition] going for the sake of the people who established the streak," Hsiao said. "We just want to prove ourselves for the meet."