W. Swimmers, Divers Push Limits

There weren’t any drummers drumming at Blodgett Pool yesterday afternoon. Instead, the Harvard women’s swimming and diving team finished up its punishing 12 days of Christmas with a three-point loss to Pittsburgh.

The defeat came just three days after the Crimson (6-2, 4-1 Ivy) had dismantled the University of Miami, 168-92. That win itself came immediately on the heels of Harvard’s grueling week-long training trip to Key Largo, Fla.

Harvard 168, Miami 92

Traditionally, the women’s swimming team embarks on a pre-Christmas training trip that allows the athletes to hone their race plan and focus on technical aspects of their starts, pacing and stroke.

This year, however, the team delayed its excursion until after Santa’s visit and then drove directly to Miami to face the unknown Hurricanes.

As a result, the Crimson swimmers were prepared to struggle physically in the meet.

“It’s kind of like a ‘see how tough we can be as a team’ challenge,” senior freestyler Meaghan Casey said.

But Harvard proved more resilient than it expected, winning 10 of the 14 events.

The Crimson was led by freshman Jane Evans, sophomore backstroker Emily Stapleton and sophomore freestyler Stephanie Greco, with each capturing two events. Evans won the 100-yard fly in 56.86 and the 200-yard individual medley in 2:06.58. Stapleton took first in both the 100- (59.14, her fastest in-season time) and 200-yard backstroke (2:06.60), while Greco earned nine points each in the 500- (5:08.93) and 1000-yard freestyle (10:28.82).

Pittsburgh 123, Harvard 120

Still suffering from what Stapleton called “the reverberations of the training trip,” the Harvard women played host to the Panthers (2-4).

But Pittsburgh was anything but a gracious guest, winning the first four events of the meet.

Because the meet was a joint one with each school’s men’s and women’s teams, the women’s format was slightly altered. The length of the meet-opening medley relay was doubled, while the 100-yard butterfly, backstroke and breaststroke were eliminated.

Despite the Panthers’ early sucess, the Crimson was not too worried, knowing it had dropped the first two events at Brown Nov. 22 before coming back to win.

Still, Evans’ victory in the 200-yard individual medley in 2:06.01 came as a welcome relief.

“When someone wins a race after you’ve been down, it’s the best pick-up you have,” Casey said.

Evans apparently picked herself up, as she came back to double in the 200-yard butterfly in 2:03.58.

By the end of the meet, with just the 200-yard breaststroke and the 400-yard freestyle relay remaining, Harvard knew it had to win both to have a chance at a victory.

Co-captain Rachael O’Beirne came through in the former, leading virtually throughout and winning in 2:23.01.

Unfortunately, Pittsburgh took second, third and fourth, meaning that, even when Harvard captured the relay, it wasn’t enough.

Next, the Crimson, with its strong butterfliers and freshman class, looks forward to the Harvard-Yale-Princeton meet on Jan. 31. Indeed, the team has posted a countdown to the meet, complete with motivational messages, in its locker room.

“On paper, race-for-race, as long as we’re focused and have the energy that day, we could definitely win,” Stapleton said.

—Staff Writer Alan G. Ginsberg can be reached at aginsber@fas.harvard.edu.