Women's Swimming and Diving Takes Home Third at HYP

Harvard women’s swimming and diving fell short in the much-anticipated HYP meet, with Yale and Princeton both handing the Crimson its first losses of the season, 167 – 133 and 165 – 135 respectively.

The first day of the meet took the Crimson (5-2, 5-2 Ivy) by surprise, with the squads from both New Haven and Princeton coming out of the gate strong.

“On the first day of this meet, our cheering and our attitudes on the whole were a little lackluster,” sophomore Geordie Enoch said. “By [Sunday] morning, we definitely turned that around and left the meet proud of how we got behind one another. But we learned that we can't afford to make a switch like that at ivies; we need to have everything together from the start.”

Despite ending the weekend 0-for-2, Harvard still put up some noteworthy performances. The meet began with a second place finish in the 200 medley relay, with a time of 1:42.67—only 0.22 seconds behind the first place Tigers. The Crimson squad included senior Danielle Lee, Enoch, freshman Sonia Wang, and junior Victoria Chan.

Lee continued to put up strong performances throughout the meet, taking first in both the 100 and 200 backstroke, and competing in the fifth place 400 freestyle relay. In the 100, Lee touched the wall in 54.68.In the 200 she finished in 1:58.37, a full second ahead of the second place finisher, fellow Harvard senior Kendall Crawford.

Enoch attributes the grace under pressure to the swimmer’s rock-solid ties to one another.

“During training trip every year, we are able to get closer and really bond, so we know each other's strengths and weaknesses,” Enoch said.“Because we know each other so well, we can regroup and make sure we're doing everything we can, in and out of the water, to try and get back on track.”

Other standout performances included junior Daniela Johnson’s performance in the 200 free, taking third with a time of 1:49.79. In the same race, senior Margaret Ramsey took fourth in 1:50.81.

The older classes held the team down this meet, helping their younger teammates recover from the hits early on in the meet.

“The strong leadership from the juniors and seniors have also helped keep the energy high and nerves down in the underclassman in between sessions,” Lee said.

The team’s younger swimmers also impressed. Sophomore Katie Evans took third in the 100 breast, followed by Enoch in fifth. Wang continued to put up quality performances in her individual events as well, taking first in the 200 butterfly, with her time of 1:58.49 nearly two seconds ahead of the second place contender.

But the Crimson, battling fatigue, failed to put enough points on the board, even with these top finishes.

“The intensity and yardage in our workouts has not yet tapered off,” Lee said. “Most of us were tired and sore from practice going into this meet.”

On the platform, the Harvard diving contingent also saw its share of highs and lows. In the three meter, sophomore Jing Leung scored 277.55 to take home silver, while fellow freshman Katie Russ scored 269.10 to take bronze. In addition, another freshman, Mikaela Thompson, took sixth while junior Elina Leiviska placed eighth.

The one meter competition went similarly as well. Thompson placed the highest of the Crimson squad, taking second with 290.05. She was followed by Russ in fourth and Leung in seventh.

All in all, the weekend proved a tumultuous test of everyone’s nerves in preparation for Ivies.

“We are all looking to perfect and work on the little technical things such as our underwater kicks, our body positioning, or starts and turns to give us that extra edge for Ivies,” Lee said. “I am looking forward to continuing this energy and team support we have up until Ivies.”

—Staff writer Isabel DeLaura can be reached at idelaura@college.harvard.edu