W. Swimming Finishes Third at Easterns

Record: 8-2, 5-2 Ivy

Coach: Stephanie Wriede '91, Keith Miller (diving)

Highlights: Placed third at Ivy Championships

Seniors: Keiko Iwahara, Stephanie Lawrence, Jen Steffen, Sandie Stringfellow

This season will not go down in history as the best for the Harvard women's swimming and diving team, but it falls well ahead of the worst.

The year, and some of the swimmers' careers, ended with one of the most memorable swimming showdowns in Crimson history, edging Yale for third place in the Ivy Championships.

In fact, a constant battle with Yale highlighted the season, as the Crimson topped the Bulldogs by fewer than 10 points in both their dual meet and the conference finals.

"Beating Yale added immensely to the season's overall excitement for us," said senior co-captain Jen Steffen. "Nothing gets the adrenaline flowing like having your season come down to one race."

"Those tight scores with Yale gave the team the opportunity to come together as a team and do something special," she said. "I am proud that when it came to the wire we swam the way we all knew we could."

Overwhelming team pride permeated the victories over Yale, but was equally, if not more apparent, after some of the tougher losses of the season.

"After losing to Brown, we were initially really disappointed," said sophomore Ana Cenanovic. "But the more we thought about it, the more the team realized that we swam well and were going to have a great season."

"It took a lot of encouragement from each other, but we overcame that and Princeton's win to perform our best at Ivies," she said. "No one on the team felt unhappy with that because we accomplished everything we thought possible."

The Ivy Championships held many stellar individual moments for the squad, including a runner-up finish for senior Keiko Iwahara, three finals placings for sophomores Nancy Jo and Corie Calfee and a third-place finish for freshman diver Camila McLean.

In addition to the overall third place Ivy Championships finish, the Crimson finished with an impressive 6-2 Ivy dual meet record.

"It is really difficult saying good-bye to this team," said senior Sandie Stringfellow. "I definitely won't miss waking up at five in the morning for practice, but I can't replace the 20 friends that I have trained with, eaten almost every meal with, laughed with, raced with and against and revered."

Team members say that these relationships were an integral part of the team's success.

"Every time I dove into the water I felt like the team was counting on me doing my best," Jo said. "I don't think we could have endured the season's inevitable ups and downs and still come out smiling without each other."

Some of the most impressive team efforts came from the diving contingency of the team, which boasted six members this year.

"The divers really worked well together and it showed in some amazing diving," said freshman Kristin Hennings. "We tried to stay focused on the team's ultimate goals and got a lot of support from the swimmers. The entire team came together more than I ever thought a team could."

Team effort made this season what it was for the squad, measured as much in hugs and words of encouragement as wins and losses.