The women's swim team is on fire, having won its last four meets to assure the first winning season in the program's history.
The Big Green tallied their first two wins early in January, playing host to Cornell University and the University of Massachusetts. The unexpected win over Cornell was a turning point for the team, which struggled against tough competition early on in the season.
In Philadelphia, the squad battled the University of Pennsylvania, extending its winning streak. Captain Cory Murphy '95, sophomores Deb Whitney and Anne Soutter and Andrea Hill '97 each won two events to help the Big Green. Divers Debbie Uchtmann '97 and Allison Ruff '95 qualified for the Eastern Championships to be held at the end of February at Princeton. The women returned with a 3-3 record to face Columbia.
The swimmers accomplished their preseason goal of seeing their first winning season last Saturday by downing Columbia University. Whitney led the Big Green, breaking pool records in the 100- and 200-yard freestyle races and the varsity record in the 200.
Coach Betsy Mitchell said the team has started to shut its opponents down by accumulating points in the first half of the meets. Breaststrokers Natasha Lam '97 and Hill have sustained the Big Green effort in the later events.
Mitchell cited consistent hard work as the reason for the team's sudden turnaround. "The girls work very hard to improve their individual times," she said, "and when everyone starts to swim faster, it's very contagious."
