'Hell Week' pays off for Orange and Black

Moments after returning to campus following Thanksgiving break, most students had already begun the countdown to winter break, the three-week long recess appreciated for sleeping in, eating out and weekend skiing retreats. The men's and women's swimming and diving teams, however, did not enjoy the same luxury.

With less than two weeks to enjoy the company of their families and high school friends, these Tigers promptly return to school to begin "hell week," a week of intense training from Dec. 28 to Jan. 5. While diving straight into a series of demanding sets may seem an irrational follow-up to a two-week vacation, these athletes avoided losing speed by allotting time every day at home to train.

"While at home, everyone is expected to train [with their] club or high school teams in preparation for hell week," senior Dave Ashley said. "In the case that someone will be swimming on their own, Rob usually has some optional practices he can give to people."

Though swimming with old teammates may seem like a great opportunity to catch up, team members were excited to return to school and train with their Princeton teammates, having grown accustomed to practices at DeNunzio Pool.

"It tends to be more difficult at home for most. [Assistant coaches] Rob and Jamie are amazing coaches who keep us engaged and generally provide practices that keep us interested and motivated," Ashley said. "We also are all used to having each other to train with. At home, training often lacks the same excitement and camaraderie, not to mention sometimes a lack of competitive training partners. But ... people are good about making the best out of their resources at home."

The two weeks during which the swimmers train at home may be seen like an opportunity to take it easy, but these hardened athletes take their practices seriously, remaining aggressive, motivated and engaged throughout the break. With future meets kept in sight, including the quickly approaching annual Harvard-Yale-Princeton (HYP) meet, the swimmers buckled down and pushed themselves.

"Our eyes right now are on HYP," Ashley said. "The team has swum very well this year, regardless of the outcomes of our meets. There are some great teams in the league right now, and we have undoubtedly experienced that. Our goal is to keep our eyes on target ... if we do that, I know we will swim fast at HYP, and I know we can win."

With hopes to defeat both Harvard and Yale at the upcoming tri-meet, both the men's and women's teams wrapped up hell week with a dual meet this past weekend — a perfect way to gauge and track their improvements. Both teams proudly defended DeNunzio Pool to extend their winning streaks at home. The men easily defeated Bucknell, 210-73, while the women won several events to beat James Madison University, 184-91.

The men claimed 12 wins over the Bison, led by freshman Michael Papageorge in diving (one-meter, three-meter) and senior Mike Zee in swimming (100, 200 free), both of whom claimed two individual wins. Sophomore Doug Lennox, finishing the 100 fly in 51.77 seconds, achieved the first Tiger win, setting off a domino reaction of Princeton wins. Sophomore Robert Griest led a pack of Tigers in the most exciting race, claiming the 500 free for a 1-2-3-4 Princeton finish.

The women performed to match, with freshman Alicia Aemisegger dominating the pool to capture three titles. Sophomore Katie Giarra led Princeton to sweep the diving events. Giarra took first in both the one- and three-meter events with Tigers also taking second and third in both events.

The Tigers' domination this past weekend proved their hard work and raised hopes for the upcoming HYP meet, which will be hosted at DeNunzio this year.

"It was a grueling meet for most because ... it came right after the last day of hell training. Most of us were pretty tired and broken down, but everyone swam well, considering," Ashley said. "[As for HYP], we have not lost a dual meet in DeNunzio, ever. We don't plan on ending that streak this year."