Rookies Pave Way in Ivy Sweep

The freshmen of the women’s swimming and diving team made significant contributions this weekend as Harvard beat Cornell, 168.5-128.5, and Dartmouth, 174-124, on Saturday in Hanover, N.H.

The meet was the team’s first of the year, although the swimmers got their feet wet last weekend in a scrimmage against Florida State.

“[The freshmen] are amazing—they are stepping up in every event,” co-captain Lindsay Hart said. “It is so exciting to see them compete.”

This year’s squad is an especially young team, as it welcomes 14 freshmen to its roster. Harvard graduated 11 seniors last year, including strong swimmers Noelle Bassi, Kyle Cutter, LeAnn Chang, Emily Wilson, and Jessica Davidson.

In the diving portion of the meet, the rookies dominated. The day’s first event, the three-meter competition, yielded a first-place finish from freshman Anne Taylor, who earned 243.9 points for her dives. Later in the day, freshman Jennifer Reese took the one-meter event with a score of 243.40. Marissa Ash, also a freshman, finished second in each of the two diving events.

The rookies also came through for the Crimson in the meet’s swimming events.

First-year swimmers Katherine Mills and Christine Kaufmann each won two races during the meet. Mills took first place in the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:13.33. In her second win of the day, she set a record in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:08.61. Kaufmann came in first in the 200 butterfly in 2:08.61 and won the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:11.66. Freshman Katherine Pickard also contributed, claiming first in the 500-yard freestyle in 5:03.72.

Upperclassman also pulled their weight in the team’s victory.

Capturing the most first-place finishes of the day for Harvard was senior Jaclyn Pangilinan. Pangilinan won the 100 and 200 breaststrokes and teamed up with seniors Hart, Meaghan Colling, and freshman Katy Hinkle to win the 200-yard medley relay.

Hinkle grabbed an individual win in the 100-yard backstroke as well.

Colling added to the Crimson’s point total by taking second in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:56.21 and third in the 100-yard freestyle in 54.22.

Part of the team’s success came from the fact that they have been putting in many hours at the pool.

“We have been training really hard,” Pangilinan said. “We brought our workout equipment to the meet. We practiced before.”

Even though the team sustained a hard-fought win, there are some aspects that can still be improved upon. One is the squad’s cohesiveness, which is not yet fully formed.

“We just have to work on coming more together as a team,” Pangilinan said.

Harvard is set to swim another Ivy League meet on the road against Columbia next Saturday. The Lions will certainly prove to be a challenge for the Crimson, as they out-swam Yale, 173-127, on Saturday.

Still, Harvard expects another victory.

“Columbia is solid,” Pangilinan said. “It will be good to go down there. But I definitely think we will come out on top.”