If causal observers had stopped by DeNunzio Pool for only one or two events this past weekend, they probably would still have been able to tell the winner of the dual meet they were watching. Both the men's and women's swimming and diving teams handily defeated Penn and Cornell in their first Ivy League contests of the year.
The Tiger men easily overcame the Quakers by a final score of 198-45; the Big Red fell by a score of 164-79. The Princeton women were victorious as well, defeating Penn by a 167-131 margin and Cornell by a score of 190-102.
Two Tigers, juniors Meir Hasbani and Kent De Mond, put on particularly impressive displays, claiming two individual wins each to lead the Princeton charge. Hasbani earned first in both the 200-yard individual medley with a time of one minute, 52.59 seconds and in the 200 butterfly, finishing in 1:50.16. Freshman Robert Griest also made the most of his time in the pool, winning the 1,000 freestyle just ahead of three of his teammates.
It was in the relay events that Princeton truly demonstrated its dominance. The Tigers were two-for-two in the relays, giving them a considerable lift over the Big Red and the Quakers. These events, which are weighted more heavily than individual races, made a major contribution to the lopsided victory.
Still, despite the impressive overall performance, the Tigers can pinpoint the areas in which they need to develop.
"We need our sprinters to improve more, and this should come as the season progresses with more racing experience and rest," assistant coach Jamie Holder said.
De Mond led the core of Princeton divers by taking first place in both the one-meter and three-meter contests with scores of 280.70 and 340.15, respectively. Sophomore Stuart Malcolm chipped in with a second-place finish in the one-meter dive, and freshman Charles Razook took third place in the three-meter dive.
Team effort
The Tiger women received major contributions from a number of different swimmers and divers. Sophomores Ellen Gray, Brett Shiflett, Katie Miller and Lisa Hamming, juniors Kelly Hannigan and Michelle De Mond and seniors Sarah Schaffer and Whitney Ryan all turned in first-place performances — a testament to Princeton's depth.
"More so than in past years, this is a team that is going to win because of its fight and its grit and not because of star power," assistant women's coach Lindsay Grimm said. "I believe that to be a good thing because as a result, everything that they accomplish this year will be earned — there won't be any easy avenues or advantages."
Shiflett, a sophomore who led the Tigers last week at the Big Al Invitational, finished in first place in three events: the 200 freestyle (1:52.11), the 200 butterfly (2:05.95) and the 500 freestyle (4:58.92). Her series of victories gave Princeton a considerable boost and will surely make the difference when the Tigers face more competitive opponents.
Though Princeton fared less well in the relays, Tiger names topped the standings in almost all of the individual events. In addition to numerous first-place finishes, Princeton turned in a total of eight second-place finishes and nine third-place finishes. The Tigers were clearly the dominant team when it came to individual competition.
"Our medley relay is usually what gets us going, but our first was actually disqualified, and it really got us motivated to get those points back," freshman Meghan Capparell said.
The women divers widened the gap between Princeton and its Ivy competitors. Michelle DeMond narrowly claimed first place in the three-meter competition with a score 296.80, while freshman Peggy Kearns and sophomore Charlotte Jones took third and fourth places, respectively.
Several Tiger divers qualified for the NCAA Zone A diving competition during this meet. Both Kent and Michelle DeMond qualified in the one-meter and three-meter contests. Sophomore Stuart Malcolm, freshman Katie Giarra and sophomore Charlotte Jones qualified in the one-meter competition; freshman Peggy Kearns qualified in the three-meter competition.
The overall group effort from members of the men's and women's squads that propelled them to victory this weekend and will continue to help them in the future.
"We support and respect one another unconditionally, and we enjoy the experience of training hard and racing well. Those things, combined with doing 'the little things' right, will be what sets us on a path to being the best team we can be," Grimm said.
Both the teams will look to continue their string of dominant victories in two weeks, when they travel to the Brown Invitational in Providence, R.I.
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