In terms of expectations, the losses may turn out to be more painful for the men's squad, as this weekend's opponents were the most surmountable competition that the Big Green will face in the Ivy League.
"We were happy with our performance, but we ended up being a few guys short. We didn't have the depth that Penn did," captain Kemper Diehl '06 said. "Their times against Brown last week were slower so we thought we could have beaten them, but they really stepped up to our challenge. It really was a great meet."
The Penn Quakers began the day tied with Dartmouth in the Ivy League standings with a record of 0-3. The Quakers finished at 1-4, placing ahead of the Big Green but behind Yale.
The Bulldogs added two wins to their 1-2 league record after winning both diving events and finishing first in nearly every race. Yale defeated both Dartmouth and Penn by convincing margins: 172-71 over the Big Green and 159-84 over the Quakers.
However, Penn's win over Dartmouth was far less impressive.
"If two or three finishes had gone the other way, we would have won. It's disappointing," captain Brandon Piper '06 said.
The final tally, 137-106, could have been reversed with the subtlest change of tide. The Big Green's Yale Fillingham '06 was the third swimmer to finish the 200-yard freestyle event, separated by .40 seconds from his Quaker competition, Pat Gallagher. Gordon Russell '08 roused the Hanover crowd with a nail-biting performance in the 200-yard IM event, touching in .28 seconds behind Penn opponent Alex Silvester.
An even slimmer margin decided the 100-yard freestyle event. The race's photo finish crowned Kemper Diehl '06 as leader of the pack, with teammate Finningham finishing in third, .08 seconds away from a Dartmouth sweep of first and second place.
The 500-yard freestyle event served as a microcosm of the entire meet for the Big Green. Kevin Ellis '09 maintained a lead over the Quakers' Devon Carr for a greater part of the race but was ultimately out-touched at the wall. A margin of .19 seconds would decide the 20-lap race.
"We had a ton of season best and even a few career best times. We competed very well," said Piper.
Less than a single tick of a stopwatch determined a combined four races and ultimately Dartmouth's fate on Saturday.
The Dartmouth men's group returns to the pool on Saturday, Jan. 28 in Durham, N.Y., as they face-off against the University of New Hampshire at 1 p.m. The Big Green will have another shot at Penn in the Ivy League/Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League Championships on March 2.
In the Ivy League women's competition, league standings are characterized by disparity. At the top, Harvard and Princeton hold a combined league record of 7-0, while Columbia, Brown, Yale and Penn form a less predictable middle grouping. Paired at the bottom are Dartmouth and Cornell, whose squads have seen better times in years past.
The parity and disparity were reflected in the results of Saturday's women's meet. Yale prevailed over the Big Green 221-79, and Penn claimed victory by a slightly smaller margin, 210-90.
Head-to-head, Yale defeated Penn 151.5 to 148.5. The three-point margin was determined by less than the difference between a first and second place finish.
For the Big Green, highlights for the meet were scored on an individual level. Kate Brodie '06 won the three-meter diving event and placed second in the one-meter contest after pulling off a full-twisting one and a half dive, consisting of one and a half flips with one twist, entering the pool with hardly a splash.
Melissa Kern '07 finished second in the 1000-yard free, out-touching her Penn competition by .22 seconds. Mariah Cunnick '06 finished the 50-yard free in 24.99, taking second place.
"I think we had a pretty strong meet. It's tough sometimes when you aren't expecting to win the meet; a lot of times the individual performances can be overlooked. I'm really proud of how our girls swam," captain Cary Telander '06 said.
The women's squad is back in action next weekend against Northeastern on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Boston. The team will then travel back to Hanover for an 11 a.m. Sunday meet with Princeton.
