W. Swimming Sweeps Weekend

The Keystone State threw the best it had at the women's swimming and diving team this weekend, but Harvard (7-0, 5-0 Ivy) ducked and dodged its way past Pitt (184-116) and Penn (223-72) to maintain its perfect record.

Harvard 184, Pitt 116

Downing the Panthers was first on the Crimson agenda for the weekend.

"We were a little apprehensive going into Pitt," said senior Ana Cenanovic. "They beat us last year and they always have a really strong bunch of girls."

Pitt proved to be more kittens than panthers, as Harvard steamrolled to a 68-point victory. The Crimson victory came as the result of several double event winners.

Freshman Lovisa Gustafsson basked in the spotlight once more this year, clocking her 200 butterfly at 2:06.49 for a win, just before she dove into the pool to capture victory in the 500 freestyle with a 5:01.18.

"Lovisa came through for us in a big way against Pitt," senior Nancy Jo said. "We really rallied around her wins as well as Pia [Chock's] to get ourselves excited for the rest of the meet."

Gustafsson was not alone in rousing her teammates with big wins. Chock, a junior, provided some fuel of her own for the fire. Chock sprinted past her competition in the 50 freestyle to touch with a winning time of 24.50 and equaled that effort later in the afternoon with a 58.48 performance in the 100 butterfly.

Perhaps more decisive than these individual triumphs, though, came in the Harvard relays. In the 200 medley relay, freshman Anna Fraser, sophomore Janna McDougall, Chock, and co-captain Corie Calfee stormed past the Panthers and never looked back, finishing in 1:48.01--almost two seconds before the next team.

The Crimson then closed out the meet with another crushing relay victory, this time in the 400 freestyle relay with sophomore Sarah Murphy, Chock, freshman Christen McConnell, and McDougall.

Harvard 223, Penn 72

"All of the great performances on Saturday motivated us to do even better on Sunday," said Jo, who won the 100 butterfly against Penn.

The Quakers posed little threat to the Ivy-leading Crimson the entire meet, as Harvard accumulated a larger and larger lead as the meet continued.

Freshman Jessi Walter led the way with two individual wins. She first flew into the wall in the 100 backstroke to take the win in 1:00.91 and then showed her endurance by outlasting the competition to take the gold in the 200 backstroke in a convincing 2:12.43.

"Jessi was awesome this weekend," said junior Karen Milkosky. "The meet was dragging a little, but her tremendous efforts got us up on our feet and cheering."

The diving contingency was not to be out done, however. Sophomore Posy Busby and juniors Camila McLean, Kristin Hennings, and Ali Shipley all teamed up to sweep both the one and three meter boards. Shipley captured both events.

Harvard racked up several other individual and relay wins. In fact, the squad recorded the fastest times in all but one event.

"I was really impressed with how we swam," said Machorek. "We were tired from Saturday and most of us have a lot of [school] work to get done right now also. Even in conditions that weren't the best, we went out there and performed well."