Women's Swimming: Tigers cement Ivy League title

The women’s swimming and diving team emerged victorious from the three-day Ivy League Championship at Harvard to recapture the league title on Saturday. In the consistently close meet, Princeton, Harvard and Yale were all strong contenders entering the final night of competition. Nonetheless, a strong Tiger effort brought the title to Princeton, upholding the team’s solid reputation. Indeed, the women’s swimming and diving team has now won nine of the past 11 Ivy League titles.

Despite the team’s tradition of excellence, a victory on Saturday was no shoo-in.

“Harvard and Yale were to be the closest competitors,” head coach Susan Teeter explained in an e-mail. “Harvard was defending champion and was expected to win.”

The Tigers came out with several strong swims on Thursday, the first day of competition. Senior co-captain Alicia Aemisegger opened up the individual events with a solid victory in the 500-yard freestyle. Senior co-captain Courtney Kilkuts added to Princeton’s momentum with a close win in the 200-yard individual medley. The night ended with another Princeton victory in the 400-yard medley relay, swum by sophomore Meredith Monroe, junior Megan Waters, Aemisegger and Kilkuts. The Tigers’ swim shattered a decades-old Harvard pool record in addition to setting new records for the championship meet and the Princeton team. Leaving the pool Thursday night, Princeton and Harvard were neck-and-neck, with Yale close behind.

The Tigers continued to swim strongly on Friday, placing second to Yale in the 200-yard medley relay. Princeton racked up the points in the 400-yard IM with a victory from Aemisegger and a third-place finish from junior Nicole McAndrew. The 200-yard free saw a hard-fought victory for sophomore Jillian Altenburger over Harvard. Rivalries from last year’s championship returned for the 800-yard freestyle relay, which Harvard won by a hundredth of a second. Teeter said that the Princeton victory in this race Friday night was one of the meet’s most memorable moments.

Entering Saturday with a slim lead, the Tigers delivered the swims they needed to keep Harvard and Yale at bay. Aemisegger continued her strong meet performance with a victory in the mile race. The rest of Princeton’s mile swimmers followed suit with a third-place finish from sophomore Aislinn Smalling and a fourth-place spot from McAndrew. Monroe broke a meet record with her championship victory — a personal first — in the 200-yard backstroke. Waters pulled out a close victory in the 100-yard freestyle to widen Princeton’s lead. Yale ended up winning the last event of the meet, the 400-yard freestyle relay, but Princeton had already clinched the title.

Races were not the only highlights of the weekend’s competitions. Teeter praised sophomore diver Courtney Fieldman’s “gutsy performance” during the one-meter competition. Despite hitting the board during the fifth of her six dives, Fieldman came back from medical treatment to complete her sixth dive. Finishing ninth, she chose to compete in the consolation heat rather than lose points due to injury disqualification.

The meet brought a special accomplishment for Aemisegger, who finished her final Ivy League Championship this weekend. The closing of Saturday’s competitions sealed a perfect individual record for the senior captain, who has won all 12 of the league championship individual events in which she has raced.

The NCAA Championships for women’s swimming and diving will be held March 18–20 in West Lafayette, Ind. At this point, only Aemisegger is sure to have qualified for the meet, but other contenders for nationals will learn on Wednesday if they qualified.

The men’s swimming and diving team will compete for its own Ivy League title next weekend at DeNunzio Pool.