W. Swimming Tries To Make a Splash

Four, three, two, one.

For the Harvard’s women’s swim team, at least, that’s the plan.

After finishing fourth in the Ivy League in 2001, third in 2002 and then second last year in 2003, the team is hoping to complete the trend this season and take the numerically-logical next step.

Outstanding performances by tri-captains Eric DeBenedetto and Renee Paradise, and sophomores Michelle Bright, Emily Stapleton and Jane Evans in the 2003 Ivy League Swimming and Diving Championships put the team in that position in the first place.

“We are aware of the trend, and yes, it does tend to be on the forefront of our minds,” sophomore Erin Mulkey said. “But it doesn’t consume us. Our biggest focus is always getting stronger as a team, being more consistent, and putting forth good races.”

They are aiming to outrace perennial heavyweight Princeton, who has been the Ancient Eight champion for four years running.

“That’s definitely our main goal,” tri-captain Abbie Davies said about beating the Tigers and capturing the conference crown. “I have noticed that our freshmen year we were fourth, and this last year when we were second, we weren’t far behind [Princeton], either.”

If history and the numbers are any indication, there’s even more reason to believe that this could be the year that the surging Crimson break Princeton’s streak. In every year of Harvard’s steady climb up the Ivy ladder, the Crimson has directly leapfrogged the team that ranked ahead of them the year before.

First, it was Yale—third in 2001, then fourth in 2002.

Next, it was Brown—second in 2002, then third in 2003.

Now, all that’s left are the Tigers—and it may be the infusion of fresh blood that will distinguish the 2003-2004 team and finally get Harvard over the hump.

The Crimson will return five upperclassmen who had earned spots on the First and Second All-Ivy Teams as a result of their Championship performances. Equally as promising thus far have been the freshmen, who, according to Davies, have helped to shore up those crucial gaps in the Harvard roster.

“We got all of the freshmen we recruited, and it’s a really strong class,” Davies said. “In the past—especially in my freshmen year—we had a lot of holes in our lineup. For example, we just didn’t have that many distance swimmers. Just here and there, there wasn’t the depth we needed. Now, we can look at the team and safely say that we don’t really have a weakness.”

The upperclassmen will play an integral part in readying those freshmen—who already showed flashes of brilliance in last weekend’s domination over Dartmouth and Cornell—by preparing them for their first collegiate competitions.

“They know how to swim,” Davies said, “but they have never been to a collegiate meet before, which is a whole different experience.”

The young blood in the Crimson veins comes when the squad says it feels a peak in energy.

“The intensity in practices have been a whole lot greater than it was last year,” Mulkey said. “Not to say that they were weak last season, but training is now even harder. And when you’re thinking about winning first place at year’s end, you can tell that people want it a lot more—and it’s perfectly attainable.”

Now, with last week’s Dartmouth and Cornell meets behind it, Harvard looks forward to hosting Brown at home on Friday.

Four, three, two, one.

It seems elementary, but the Crimson know they still have work to do.