Princeton (6-0 Ivy League) defeated Harvard (6-1) 170-148.5 and Yale (3-3) 209-110 at the tournament, hosted at Harvard’s Blodgett Pool. Princeton also beat Dartmouth (1-5) earlier in the week, 200-95.
Holding a slight 94.5-74.5 lead over the Crimson at the end of Friday night, Princeton needed all of its swimmers and divers to contribute, and critical points came from all sections of the team.
“We were up by 20 points after the first day, but [head coach Susan] Teeter reminded us that in a dual meet, 20 points can be made up very quickly,” senior tri-captain Justina DiFazio said. “Getting whoever was expected to come fifth to beat out one more girl and come fourth [is] only [a] one-point difference, but that can make all the difference when it gets as close as HYP came.”
The Tigers won eight of the nine events on the first night of competition. They started quickly off the blocks with a big win in the 200-yard medley relay, clocking in at one minute, 43.04 seconds.
Junior All-American Alicia Aemisegger continued her winning ways, taking first in both the 1,000-yard freestyle and the 200-yard butterfly with large victory margins in both races and an NCAA B-cut time in the butterfly.
Freshman Jillian Altenburger, swimming in her first HYP meet, also posted two top times, winning the 200-yard free (1:46.97) and the 400-yard individual medley (4:16.92) with NCAA B-cut times in both.
Despite being behind for the first 200 yards of the IM, Altenburger used an impressive breaststroke leg to pull ahead of Harvard’s Katherine Pickard and win by five seconds.
Saturday afternoon, the Tigers made sure to bring their “A” game, holding a slight lead with seven events to go. Sophomore Megan Waters started the day strong with a win in the 100-yard free, posting her second top time of the meet after winning the 100-yard backstroke the previous day. Altenburger was close behind, finishing second and picking up valuable points for the Tigers.
Princeton made up critical ground in the 200-yard breaststroke, where junior NCAA qualifier Courtney Kilkuts put up the second-fastest time. Freshmen Caitlin Baran and Hannah Cody finished close behind in third and fourth.
Aemisegger took on five Harvard swimmers in the 500-yard free and managed to outpace them all, controlling her lead from start to finish and posting her third NCAA B-cut of the meet.
Princeton sealed the deal in the 200-yard IM, as Tigers finished in first, third and sixth to pick up the last few needed points in the meet. Kilkuts, the two-time Ivy League champion in the event, posted her second top time of the meet, 2:02.82, after winning the 100-yard breaststroke the previous day.
The divers also came up big over the two days, taking first, third, fourth and fifth on the one-meter board Friday evening. They followed this with another impressive performance Saturday afternoon, clinching first, third and fourth in the three-meter competition.
Senior Katie Giarra took the top spot in both events, while senior Shelby Rudd took third and fourth in the one- and three-meter events respectively.
“Our divers had their game faces on the whole meet, and they certainly stepped up when we needed them most,” senior co-captain Meghan Capparell said. “This weekend really tested our ability to rise above adversity; we were able to stay focused despite injury and illness.”
The Tigers also had some impressive performances the previous weekend, with Aemisegger posting a Princeton and DeNunzio Pool record time of 54.22 in the 100-yard fly. She also posted a winning and NCAA B-cut time of 16:00.35, which stands as the third fastest time in the country.
Princeton will prepare for its last dual meet of the season, Feb. 7 against Columbia, before it readies itself for the Ivy League Championship, held Feb. 26 through Feb. 28 in Long Island, N.Y.
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