Women's Swimming Beats Brown at Blodgett

Before their final competition at Blodgett Pool, the seniors lined up in a row to be honored with roses and speeches for their commitment to Harvard women’s swimming and diving team. These seniors and their younger teammates challenged fellow Ivy, Brown, at home on Saturday afternoon in what was a blowout victory for both the male and female Crimson swimmers.

The women of the Harvard team (3-1, 3-1 Ivy) defeated the Bears (4-1, 0-1), 202-98. The win marks the Crimson’s 11th consecutive win against Brown.

“[The eleventh win] is a testament to how strong Harvard swimming is,” senior Sara Li said. “We really built up a legacy and a tradition. It is something that we are really proud of, especially being a senior. We realize how lucky we are to be a part of such a successful team.”

The Harvard women’s team finished the day with a total of 12 event wins. The meet commenced with a splash for the women, as Li, sophomores Danielle Lee and Kendall Crawford, and rookie Victoria Chan took the gold in the 200 medley relay. The foursome finished the relay in 1:44:88, earning Harvard 11 points.

“We didn't even realize Brown was there,” Li said. “We were having so much fun and were swimming so strongly. The relay win was an awesome way to start off the meet, but in general we were barely looking at the other team.”

Three of the four swimmers, however, were not done. Each shined individually later on in the meet. Li once again brought home a first-place finish for the class of 2014 in the 50 free, finding the wall in 23.69 seconds. Crawford garnered another top spot with her 200 backstroke finish in 2:01.48. Lee picked up three additionally event wins following the 200 relay: 100 backstroke, 100 free, and 200 individual medley.

“We really dominated a lot of the events,” Li said, “We were able to get the top spots in most of them.”

Another notable quartet, sophomore Sherry Liu, junior Kelsey Hojan-Clark, freshman Willa Wang, and sophomore Marlee Erlich nabbed the top-four spots in the 1000 freestyle. Liu clocked in her first-place finish at 9:58:97.

“We are in the midst of some really tough training right now,” Li said. “So to get this win really means a lot to us. It was a fun meet to be a part of. Everyone was so energetic, and we swam really well.”

—Staff writer Caroline L. Ferguson can be reached at carolineferguson@college.harvard.edu.