W. Swimming Splits Ivy Weekend

The Harvard women's swimming and diving team fell to Brown on Friday night in Providence, but the Crimson bounced back from the Bears' attack yesterday by defeating Columbia at Blodgett Pool.

The Crimson (3-1, 3-1 Ivy) mercifully tamed the Lions, 203-97. Harvard dominated Columbia (2-2, 0-2 Ivy) from the beginning of the meet, confirming its strength both in the pool and on the boards.

Harvard's successful effort yesterday helped make up for the team's disappointing loss against Brown (1-0, 1-0 Ivy) two days earlier, 189-106.

By dismantling the Lions, the Crimson showed it has the depth to match up against conference opponents. But the team's loss to the Bears was a wake up call. Harvard needs to improve upon this weekend's split in order to make a viable run at the Ivy title.

Harvard 203, Columbia 97

The Crimson out-performed the Lions in the pool with fast finishing speed and aggressive racing tactics.

Several Harvard swimmers and divers had multiple wins.

Captain Pia Chock's closing speed in the 200-yard medley relay propelled the foursome of junior Janna McDougall, freshmen Erika DeBenedetto, Kate Nadeau and Chock past Columbia.

Chock out-touched Columbia senior Katie Lynch to take the relay win, 1:48.95 to 1:49.06.

The captain also secured three individual victories, outpacing the competition in the 200-yard butterfly, 100-yard butterfly and 200-yard individual medley. Her times of 2:04.42, 56.83, and 2:09.29, respectively, bested the competition, but were slightly slower than performances earlier this season.

"This meet was great in helping the team regain its confidence," Chock said. "My times weren't as fast as they've been earlier this season, but I'm very happy with the swims."

McDougall added to her relay victory with first place finishes in the 50 and 100-yard freestyles. McDougall captured the 50 in 24.02 and the 100 in 52.68.

Sophomore double-winner Jane Humphries shut out the competition in the 200-yard freestyle, taking the event in 1:53.97. Humphries was second in the 500-yard free at 5:07.50.

Humphries racked up a second win in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Battling for the lead until the final lap, this time it was Humphries who would touch-out Columbia's anchor Lynch.

Teaming up with senior Lillian Brown, sophomore Victoria Chang, and junior Jill Ono, Humphries powered home past the competition, touching the wall at 3:34.44 seconds.

"I think we were able to win today because we swam relaxed," Humphries said. "Of course I would have liked to have gone a little faster, but this is great preparation for our next meet at Notre Dame in two weeks."

A string of solid freshmen performers secured victory for the Crimson.

Breaststroker Erika DeBenedetto double-dipped, capturing the 100 and 200-yard distances in 1:06.86 and 2:25.30, respectively. DeBenedetto's wins helped patch-up a lagging gap in the Crimson breaststroke line-up.

Freshmen diver Brittany Garza leapt to wins on the 1-meter and 3-meter boards.

Garza took the wins by accumulating 235.65 points on the low board and 245.18 points on the high board.

"This meet went really well for me," Garza said. "Practices this past week went really well for me too. I changed around my list and added some new dives. Things just went so well."

Other freshmen added into Harvard's winning formula.

Olympic trials qualifier Katie Wilbur held off the competition to win the 400-yard individual medley in a time of 4:29.78. Wilbur finished second in the 200-yard backstroke in 2:06.28.

Crimson distance-ace Abbie Davies stole the win in the 500-yard freestyle in 5:07.42, by racing past teammate Jane Humphries and touching her out by .08 seconds.

Despite the season having started two weeks ago, the meet against Columbia was Harvard's final home contest of the season. Senior Danielle Backes encouraged her teammates to make their final laps at Blodgett Pool count after Friday's loss.

"Weakness is pain leaving your body, " she said before the match-up against Columbia.

By embracing the pain emanating from the Crimson's loss to Brown, Harvard overcame Columbia's fight for a dual meet win.

Brown 189, Harvard 106

The Crimson experienced a different fate against the Bears than it did against the Lions.

Brown notched a convincing victory over Harvard in the Bears first meet of the season. The Crimson mustered only a few outstanding performances.

Harvard's divers gave the Crimson solid showings on both the 1-meter and 3-meter. The Crimson went one-two-three on the 1-meter and one-two-four on the 3-meter. Brittany Garza, senior Camila McLean and freshmen Renee Paradise finished in that order on both boards.

"We had hoped to sweep both

boards," tri-captain Ali Shipley said. "I think we were really excited to go to an unfamiliar pool for an intense contest. We not only maintained composure but also excelled on all of our hard dives."

Chock added a victory in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:51.50. She finished second in the 100-yard butterfly and the 100-yard freestyle in 57.09 and 52.19, respectively.

McDougall fought off illness to squeak out a win in the 200-yard backstroke. Crimson teammate Katie Wilbur touched second in the event.

Despite some outstanding swims, Harvard couldn't match up with Brown's star-power and depth.

Brown took both the 200-medley relay and the 400-freestyle relay.

Freshmen Elizabeth Daniels claimed the 50 freestyle for the Bears with a time of 23.87 and then went on to win the 100 free in 51.89. Brown junior Judy Koonstra also won both the 100 and 200 butterfly in times of 57.03 and 2:02.70.

The Crimson will have to wait until the Ivy Championships in February to test the waters against Brown again.

However, Harvard's next chance at pool competition will be the Notre Dame Invitational, Nov. 30-Dec. 2. The diving squad will head to Austin, Texas for the University of Texas Invitational that same weekend.