Men's swimming takes EISLs

In a close race to the finish this past weekend, the men's swimming and diving team tasted victory by defeating last year's Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League Championships winner Harvard, claiming their third title in five years. Though EISL swimming is the epitome of an "individual sport," it was the teamwork, cohesiveness and spirit that ultimately awarded the Tigers the league title.

Princeton did not have a single swimmer win first place but still brought home the trophy because of the depth of the entire squad. Even though Harvard dominated Friday's meet, winning the majority of events, Princeton's persistence helped the team leave Friday with a 40-point lead.

"This championship was a total team effort. We had 20 guys on the Easterns team who all swam or dove very well with 18 swims on Sunday, and 12 swims finishing in the top eight," senior co-captain Alan Fishman said. "I could not ask for a better way to end my swimming career and I am extremely proud that this team could put together such a convincing win based primarily on depth and consistency."

The meet began bleakly with Harvard's all-star team clinching a win in the 200-medley relay, greatly outswimming Princeton, which came in fourth place. The Crimson also claimed the title in the next two events, the 1000 freestyle and 400 individual medley.

In possibly the most exciting event of the meet, freshman Robert Griest fought hard to the finish, only to claim second place in the 1000 freestyle, losing by a mere 0.03 seconds to Harvard's Eric Lynch. Junior Dave Ashley trailed behind Griest by less than half a second to round out the top three. Almost mirroring the previous event, Harvard claimed the title in the 400 IM but Princeton again grabbed several spots just near the top, with junior Meir Hasbani placing second and senior co-captain Sami Mardam-Bey and junior Tim Ruse tied for fifth.

"Our performances in the morning sessions were what won us the meet," Mardam-Bey said. "We were able to get up and get a lot of swimmers in the top heat at night, which was the key to winning the meet."

Throughout Friday's session, Princeton saw its swimmers continuously finishing in the top places; The first strong disappointment came in the 100-yard butterfly. The Crimson seemed to use this opportunity to shake the Tigers. Harvard took not only the first spot, but also third, sixth and eighth, outshining Princeton which had only freshman Doug Lennox finish second, losing by a mere tenth of a second. Though the Tigers still left the day with a 40-point lead, this stunning performance by Harvard proved that Princeton could not breathe just yet.

Saturday began similarly to Friday, opening with the distance swim. The 1650 freestyle, known as "the mile," saw the exact same finishes as the last distance swim, with Harvard taking the win, and Griest and Ashley finishing second and third respectively. Though neither was able to claim the win in this event, both swimmers attained NCAA B-qualifying times.

Harvard continued to slash at Princeton's lead, especially during the 200 backstroke, in which the Crimson claimed both the win and fifth place. For the Tigers, holding desperately onto a slim lead, junior Mike Zee placed fourth and senior Alan Fishman finished eighth. Soon after this tight race, though, Princeton defined its lead and depth in the water.

The Tigers stole the spotlight in the 200 fly. Even though Cornell surprisingly stole the win from Hasbani by 0.04 seconds, Princeton rounded out the top places with senior Brian Shue placing fourth, freshman Dan Eckel placing fifth, Lennox placing sixth and Ruse placing eighth. The only Crimson swimmer able to penetrate the Tigers' dominance came in at seventh.

Though this display of ability seemed unlikely to repeat itself, the Princeton divers dominated the boards. Following the lead of the swimmers, the divers were eager to have their say. With three Tigers qualifying for the top eight in the three-meter, the divers weren't about to let their teammates down. Though Harvard once again stole the win, junior Kent De Mond, freshman Charlie Razook, and sophomore Stuart Malcolm finished in top places, placing second, fifth, and seventh respectively.

Despite Harvard's handful of superstars, Princeton's depth has ensured that for the next year, and perhaps many more to come, the league title will stay here at Princeton.