Transfer, Frosh Thrive For Women's Swimming at Olympic Trials

Not one of them has taken a single stroke for the Harvard women’s swimming and diving team, but four future members of the Crimson made a big first splash at the United States Olympic Trials from July 7-14 in Long Beach, Calif.

Rising junior Noelle Bassi—who sat out last season’s slate after transferring from Tennessee—placed sixth in the 200-meter butterfly, the best performance in Harvard women’s history, while incoming freshman Jackie Pangilinan took 17th in the 200-meter breaststroke to spearhead the Crimson effort.

Though Pangilinan’s finish was not high enough to place her in the United States final, she was subsequently named to the Olympic squad of her father’s native Philippines as the country’s sole female swimming representative and will travel to Athens to compete in late August.

Bassi will not be as fortunate, despite advancing to the eight-swimmer final of the 200-meter butterfly.

“I’m really proud of her performance,” Harvard coach Stephanie Wriede-Morawski ’92 said. “It’s hard in that setting in the type of race that she swims...to really execute the perfect race plan.”

According to Wriede-Morawski, Bassi’s strategy normally calls for easing her way into a race before overcoming her opponents in its final stages. But against the trials’ elite field, her inability to establish an early lead precluded a late comeback push.

“The first thing [Bassi] said when she got out of the water was, ‘I want to work on my sprints. I want to be out ahead in 2008,’” Wriede-Morawski said. “But she came a long way on her sprinting this year.”

Though Bassi spent her sophomore year training with the Crimson, she was unable to compete in intercollegiate competition as a result of her transfer.

Students are required to sit out a season when switching programs, unless the athletic department at the first school grants a waiver freeing the athlete from his or her prior commitment. Generally the provision is designed to protect teams against intra-conference transfers, but Tennessee still refused to free Bassi to compete.

“In this particular circumstance we really tried to talk to the University of Tennessee,” Wriede-Morawski said. “But their athletic director has a blanket policy of never releasing anyone.”

Left with no other recourse, Bassi trained with the Crimson, then offered her support from the sidelines, while competing in non-NCAA events. Already a silver medalist at the 2003 Pan American games, Bassi won the National Championship in the 200 butterfly earlier this year in her preparation for Olympic Trials.

“I had my best time at nationals,” Bassi said. “It wasn’t as fast at trials but the situation was a little different. At nationals it was more time counted and not really the place...[My time at Olympic Trials] wasn’t top two so I wasn’t exactly satisfied.”

Incoming freshman Lindsay Hart placed placed 27th in the 200-meter backstroke, while classmate Bridget O’Connor placed 36th and 43rd in the 200-meter and 100-meter butterfly, respectively.

While quick to praise her four new swimmers’ accomplishments, Wriede-Morawski was equally sure to note an extra hurdle that kept many of their future teammates away.

“In years past you were permitted to qualify in yards,” Wriede-Morawski said. “This time—for the first time ever in Olympic Trials—you had to qualify in meters only. When you rest and you have this one great meet, if the great meet is yards and you try to recreate it over the summer or out of season, it’s hard.”

—Staff writer Timothy J. McGinn can be reached at mcginn@fas.harvard.edu.