Tigers split season openers

Freshman Alicia Aemisegger was recruited to make a difference. A swift swimmer and aspiring Olympian, her presence was expected to be felt by the already strong No. 24 women's swimming and diving team (2-1 overall) as it begins its march toward a second consecutive Ivy League title. Until last weekend, however, it may have been easy to underestimate the boost her speed would provide the Tigers.

The men's and women's swimming and diving teams traveled to Michigan this weekend for two meets against local teams. During the women's team's two matches — a tri-meet with Oakland and Eastern Michigan on Friday and a meet against Michigan on Saturday — Aemisegger won six events, set three University records and came oh-so-close to shattering two more records.

The women won their tri-meet handily, defeating Eastern Michigan 130.5-100.5 and Oakland 145-92 for a winning start to the season.

Aemisegger whizzed by the competition in all three of her races, winning each by at least eight seconds. Her 200-yard breaststroke time of one minute, 59.57 seconds made her the first Princetonian to finish that race in less than two minutes. Add that to her 200-yard freestyle and breaststroke, which each came within 0.2 seconds of breaking their respective school records, and you have an amazing first swim as a Tiger.

Aemisegger's brilliance was accentuated by strong performances across the team. Princeton's 'A' team won the 400-yard relay, finishing in 3:55.30, a good 1.5 seconds off the closest competitor. The Tiger's 'B' squad was the first 'B' side to finish, earning fourth. Junior Ellen Gray breezed through the 1,000-yard freestyle, taking it by 15 seconds, and sophomore Justina DiFazio won an extremely close 100-yard freestyle.

When the dust settled, Princeton had taken first in six of the events, second in an additional three, but most importantly, found itself with two victories in its first meet of the season.

Barely dry from their decisive wins in Friday's meet, the women cruised over to Ann Arbor, where the Tigers' positive momentum was slowed by the unrelenting Michigan team. Earning 1-2 finishes in seven of the 13 events, the No. 10 Michigan squad blazed their way to a 134-101 victory.

Though this was obviously Michigan's race, Princeton produced some notable performances. Adding to her impressive showing on Friday, Aemisegger won the 1,000-yard freestyle, 500-yard freestyle and 400-yard IM. DiFazio finished a close third in a tight 100-yard freestyle.

"We entered this weekend wanting a good start [to the season]," head coach Susan Tetter said. "We were excited to face a powerful team like Michigan because they would balance our weekend and help us improve as a squad."

Men split pair

Similar to the women's team, the men's team (2-2) traveled to Michigan over the weekend for a meet against Oakland and Eastern Michigan before springing over to Ann Arbor to compete against Michigan and Michigan State in a tri-meet.

Princeton split both of its meets: topping Oakland and Michigan State — with scores of 136-133 and 152-130, respectively — and falling to Eastern Michigan and Michigan by scores of 122.5-111.5 and 173-100.

Wearied from 10 hours of traveling, the Tigers headed to Oakland for their first meet. The Tigers swam strong throughout.

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Opening the race, Princeton's 'A' team finished second to Oakland in the 400-yard medley relay. Sophomore Robert Griest had a six-second win in the 1,000-yard freestyle, providing the Tiger's first victory. Later in the day, Griest also won the 500-yard freestyle. Ending the day, Princeton won the 400-yard freestyle relay.

Saturday's meet against Michigan was not nearly as close. The No. 11 Wolverine pack jumped into the pool intending to take the meet, and finished 1-2 in the first eight events.

Michigan's dominance early in the meet quickly took the Tigers out of first-place contention, but their solid performances throughout left them embroiled in a close race with the Spartans.

"We started off pretty slowly, but definitely picked up steam toward the end," Stanley Buncher said.

Griest's win in the 500-yard freestyle together with freshmen Christopher Quemena and Easton Chen's 1-2 finish in the 200-yard backstroke gave the Tigers the late boost they needed to finish atop Michigan State.

Diving was a highlight of Princeton's weekend as junior Stuart Malcolm and freshman Michael Papageorge earned first and second, respectively, in the one-meter dive against Michigan.