W. Swimming Looks for Elusive Ivy Crown

When the Harvard women's swimming and diving team enters the locker room at Blodgett Pool each day, the squad is confronted with the same challenge:

"Do not open this door unless you are ready to win the Ivy League title."

This year the Crimson (2-0) is doing something different to accomplish its goal of winning the conference championship.

Intensified training, improved attitudes, better communication between coaches and athletes and a heightened sense of confidence are what Harvard hopes can make the difference.

So far the team has seen nothing but positive results, with convincing wins over Cornell and Dartmouth last weekend.

However, the team's attempts at the title the past few seasons haven't been as easy. The Crimson has not won an Ivy championship in several years.

It seemed as if last season was the Crimson's chance to break out of the shadows of defending Ivy League Champion, Brown. It was also Harvard's chance to break free from the chains of Princeton's dual meet dominance.

The Crimson almost did it.

Harvard defeated the Bears at home in November, setting the tone for a very successful dual meet season.

Breaststroker Alexis Todor '00 and current sophomore Lovisa Gustafsson led Harvard's campaign to the Ivy Crown. The duo swam to a Senior National qualifying standard and a team record, respectively, without ever fully resting down and preparing for a race.

But the wave of momentum came to a halt as the Tigers defeated the Crimson at Blodgett last February.

The Crimson had one more chance for redemption--the Ivy League Championships, which would again be hosted by Harvard.

It seemed as if the ball was in the Crimson's court. It had the home pool advantage and several red hot athletes.

Harvard was coming into the most important meet of its season tapered, excited, shaved and prepared to swim fast.

But it never came together.

Princeton upset Brown to steal the Ivy Title with overwhelming support from its divers. The Crimson finished third again.

But in many respects this year is different. The Crimson squad is smaller, more cohesive and hyper-motivated. It is a new team.

In addition to graduates, thirteen members of the 1999-2000 squad did not return to the team this fall.

Many of Harvard's best swimmers were among those to the leave the team.

Team record holder in the 100-yard butterfly Sarah Murphy, Ivy championship finalists Liz Baxter and Tina Weiner, and breaststroke standouts Rachael O'Beirne and Karen Milkosky all made exits.

Despite the departures, the Crimson has proved it is ready to press on.

"We are just as talented this year, if not more so," Harvard Coach Stephanie Wreide-Morawsky said. "A smaller team size has already fostered a stronger sense of unity."

Captain Angie Peluse knows she can find determination at the heart of her team.

"I think everyone on the team wants to be a part of what we're doing," Peluse said. "This can't do anything but get us ready to go. When everyone is 100%, we're bound to stand out."

Harvard has put this unity to the test and has begun the 2000-2001 season with more individual and team success than in any recent season.

The Crimson has been on a roll. The team set four pool records at Cornell last weekend. Pia Chock broke the school record in the 200-yard butterfly at a scrimmage against Northeastern. This is not even the captain's best event.

And in addition, multiple athletes have racked up personal best and in-season best times so far. Junior Janna McDougall has posted conference-leading times in her first races of the season. This type of promise so early in the season is unfamiliar, but not unexpected.

"All of the people we have on our team are really dedicated," sophomore freestyler Victoria Chang said.

That dedication has carried over to other aspects of training and its showing up in the pool and on the boards.

"We're more focused than last year," sophomore sprinter Christin McConnell said. "We're training a lot more quality yardage. Training is very individualized and this regimen is going to help the team."

For the Crimson to win the Ivy Crown, it's going to take individuals qualifying in the top eight in the preliminaries of the Ivy Championships, and improving upon its standings in the finals.

Even though it will take individual successes to grab the conference title, swimmers are keeping their minds on the team goal.

"We're team oriented," said 2000 Ivy Champion in the 1650-yard freestyle Lovisa Gustafsson. "Individuals need to win races, but the goal of the team is to maximize scoring through a team effort."

The team's efforts will be a reflection of their preparation for dual meets and the conference title.

"The team would like to win all its dual meets and the Ivy Championships as well," Wriede-Morawski said. "Everyone is capable of swimming lifetime best times. This is a team of women who know how to race."

To win its upcoming competitions, Harvard is going to need a thrust of victories from the team's proven standouts, as well as from individuals just making their mark.

The team will rely on the likes of Chock, McDougall, Gustafsson, and sophomore ace Jane Humphries.

But without the support from the likes of fast-improving freestyler Jill Ono and versatile sophomore Arianne Cohen, the Crimson will find it hard to match up against the depth and star-power of it rivals, Brown and Princeton.

The Crimson's hidden weapon comes from a pair of highly touted recruits in the freshmen class--breaststroker Erika DeBenedetto and flyer Kate Nadeau.

"We're excited and we care about our teammates," DeBenedetto said. "We're going to go out, swim fast and have fun. We're going to do it for the team."

Nadeau knows what it will take to unseat the reigning queens of the Ivy League.

"Having other girls right here with me makes it easier," Nadeau said. "It's easier to train at a higher level with these other girls. We can do it."

The team has aspirations past the Ivy League title.

Morawski-Wreide hopes to qualify several athletes for the NCAA Championships, and there is even hope for Chock to take seven Ivy wins, three individual and four relay golds.

The Crimson begins its real quest this weekend, facing Brown in Providence tomorrow and Columbia at Blodgett on Sunday.