Crimson and Tigers to duel for Ivies

The Tigers just wrapped up an undefeated Ivy League season, something that hasn't been done since 2003. They are now on the verge of a far more frequent occurrence: winning the Ivy League championship, which Princeton has done for six out of the past nine years.

Princeton's women's swimming and diving team (10-1 overall 7-0 Ivy League) jumped into 23rd place in the national rankings just weeks before heading into the Ivy League Championships.

Their win at HYP last weekend added to a remarkable record in which their only dual loss of the season was to No. 11 Michigan during the opening weekend. The team's strong performance this season, especially its win over rival Harvard, has helped it attain the early favored status entering the championships this weekend.

"We were happy to win back the HYP title [but] are very clear that the two meets are very different," head coach Susan Teeter said. "Harvard is a formidable opponent that should never be underestimated. We expect them to be ready to swim fast [and we'll be ready too.]"

While Princeton has been the chief swimming powerhouse in the Ivy League since the new millennium, winning six of seven titles, Harvard forcefully ended the Tigers' reign in 2005, taking the Ivy League title at DeNunzio. The championship's return to DeNunzio after being hosted at Harvard last year, where the Tigers were victorious, motivates the women to work harder to reclaim the title this year.

This year's meet will be a race to the finish between the Tigers and the Crimson, as shown in the recent HYP meet, where the champion was not clearly determined until the final events. The exhausting weekend is composed of six sessions — three preliminary sessions and three finals sessions. As a result, Princeton has taken every precaution and the athletes have begun tapering — the reduction of yardage and intensity in every practice to fully rest the bodies — hoping their rested bodies can build up energy for the weekend.

"Everyone was happy with the way people stepped up and got the job done at HYP," senior Kelly Hannigan said. "We are coming off some incredible swims last weekend, and we hope to use that momentum and do it all again this weekend at Ivies."

Though the swim team had an outstanding meet at HYP, with several strong individual performances across the roster, the team is only permitted to enter 18 athletes. Each athlete is allowed to swim a maximum of three individual events and three relays.

While Princeton will claim the top seed time in eight events, including seven from freshman star Alicia Aemisegger, it is the team's depth that will make the greatest difference.

"It takes the entire team of swimmers and divers to win this meet," Teeter said. "No one star can make the difference; everyone has to step up."

Luckily for the Tigers, Princeton has a top-five entry in every individual event, with several top seeds in multiple events. Many of these individual top-seeded events come from returning veterans, including Hannigan in IM, junior Ellen Gray in distance, junior Lisa Hamming in IM and sophomore Justina Di Fazio in sprint freestyle. Another strong area this year will be diving. The Tigers will have nine divers competing this weekend, including returning star senior Michelle DeMond, who claimed third last year in the three-meter dive, and sophomore Katie Giarra, who has consistently performed well, including a most recent sweep of the one- and three- meter competitions against Columbia and a three-meter win at HYP. While the team looks forward to winning events, the women have already set sites on a new goal: the NCAA championships.

"We'd like to have a few women make their NCAA cuts and if possible qualify a relay," Teeter said. "The divers don't have a chance to make NCAAs until two weeks from now at the NCAA Diving Qualification meet."

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All in all, the team is prepared for the meet, which kicks off Thursday afternoon and finishes Saturday at DeNunzio, and is determined to bring home the team's seventh title since 2000.