They say there is strength in numbers. But, approaching this season with a handful of seniors and only a few more returning swimmers, the men's swim team was hoping they could be an exception.
With the Big Green's 168-72 loss to Harvard on Friday, bringing their record to 1-3, it looks like those numbers could have come in handy. While Harvard's point total was accumulated by 23 different swimmers, only 14 Dartmouth men contributed to their 72 points. The loss was not a particular surprise to the team, as Harvard is always one of the strongest in the league.
"We weren't really hoping for too much as a team," Coach Jim Wilson said. "We knew Harvard was going to be tough and were just hoping for some good individual performances."
A few were able to relish such successes. Leading the Dartmouth pack was Co-captain Pete Moore '94 with two first place finishes, in the 50 and 100-meter freestyles. He was also on the 400-meter medley relay team which picked up a third place finish and Dartmouth's first two points of the day.
Harvard snatched the lead during that relay, taking first and second places for a total of fifteen points, and they continued to dominate throughout the entire meet.
With the exception of the two diving events, the Big Green were able to enter at least two swimmers in each event, but could only come up with one other first place finish, by Ben Lannon '96 in the 200 meter breaststroke.
Lannon's fifth place finish in the 200-meter individual medley and participation in the 400-meter medley relay with Moore, Matt Carlson '96 and Bob Halk '94 added another point and a half to Dartmouth's total, giving Lannon a 10.5-point contribution for the day.
Also coming up with key contributions were Co-captain Jason Stern '94 and Mark Shukovsky '95, each earning seven points with second and third place finishes.
Stern edged out teammate Ross Downey '95 in the 200-meter butterfly for his second place finish and came up with a strong third behind two Harvard swimmers in the 200-meter freestyle. Shukovsky picked up his second place finish in his first event of the day, the 1,000-meter freestyle, and third place in the 500-meter freestyle, only a tenth of a second behind the second place finisher.
Numbers could be helpful in the two diving events, in which newcomer Jeremy Turk '97 is the lone competitor. Finishing a close fourth place in both events, Turk picked up a total of four points, while the Harvard divers accumulated 32.
"Diving continues to hurt us," Wilson said. "Jeremy is making improvements, but when he goes into the events alone we are already at a disadvantage."
Turk proved his abilities last night against University of Massachusetts, winning his event and inspiring the team in what Stern called the "most positive meet in a long time."
Although the Big Green ultimately lost 156-138, Stern said he considered it a turning point for the team. "It was an amazing meet for us in terms of spirit," he said. "People stayed mentally in it."
But Wilson is unwilling to speculate about Saturday's meet at the University of Pennsylvania. "For now we're just taking things one meet at a time," he said. "We are in good physical shape and continue to improve with every meet, so we'll have to wait and see how it goes for us."