For the Dartmouth swimming and diving teams, success is seldom defined in black and white terms. An eventual team loss to a superior opponent is often less important than the individual improvements that can result from swimming against stiffer competition.
Such has been the case this season for the Big Green swim teams, which will put the finishing touches on the regular season when the women compete in Saturday's Middlebury Invitational. The Dartmouth swimming program has made strides toward becoming a force in Ivy League/EISL competition, although these improvements were not reflected in their final record.
The men's team (0-8, 0-8 EISL), despite having many strong swims, came up winless this season. At a few meets, the team measured up just a few swimmers short.
The most notable case of the Big Green's lack of depth was the Jan. 21 meet against Penn, a 137-106 loss. Inspired by three personal-best times by Gordon Russell '08, Dartmouth swimmers put themselves in a position to win but were edged out by a few painfully close races.
The women's team has swum to similar results this season, and, once again, the story of their season is not captured by a box score. Mariah Cunnick '06 speaks with pride about the progress that the team has made during her tenure as co-captain.
"I think our team has made incredible strides this year," she said, emphasizing Dartmouth's 176-122 thumping of Cornell in particular.
"Dominating Cornell by such a remarkable amount was definitely a big win for us. Now that we've clearly demonstrated that the Big Red is no longer an imminent threat to our success, it's time to shoot for the next team up the totem pole. With our combination of hard work, teamwork, heart and determination, there's nothing that we can't do."
As for the EISL and Ivy League Championships that begin later this month, the team clings to modest, attainable goals. As head coach Jim Wilson explained, his team is motivated to "climb out of the cellar" and climb a rung on the EISL totem pole by avenging their loss to Penn.
After booking a convincing win over Cornell this season, the women's team looks to maintain their separation from last place and surpass another Ivy League opponent.
"Typically the teams that are right above us are Columbia and Penn. They aren't out of our sights," Cary Telander '06 said.
Telander, a captain of the women's team, cites the significance of the teams' improvements this year for a program still reeling from the administration's decision to eliminate swimming in the fall of 2002. Even though the program was reinstated a few months later, the damage has been lasting.
"Our program is just starting to recover from the swim team cuts. After the school cut and then reinstated the swimming teams, it's been a couple years of tough recruiting. I think we're heading in the right direction now. We're working now so we can rise up in Ivy League standings in the future."
For the Big Green, the return to success will be navigated by its underclass swimmers. Wilson believes that the talents of the team's younger athletes will catalyze Dartmouth's success over the next few years.
"We've got a really good freshman class; admissions helped us out a lot. Also, it's been encouraging to see that the freshmen have taken over some ownership of the team. They are the team's future."
The men's team will retain a strong core of underclass athletes. Top swimmers Gordon Russell '08 and Drew Wenzel '08 will join diving phenom Andrew Berry '08 as leaders of the squad over the next two seasons.
The already-impressive times of freestylers Kevin Ellis '09 and Andrew Ballantine '09 will be supplemented by fellow freshman Porter Diehl '09 and Justin Slick '09 in years to come, as the younger swimmers will continue to improve their times and have a positive impact on Dartmouth's standing in Ivy League competition.
For the women, some of their top upperclassmen will return, as Melissa Kern '07, Lizzie Rippe '07 and Megan Vucovich '07 will bring their contributions to the pool for yet another year.
But as Cunnick noted, "The underclassmen have really brought variety to our team that we were previously lacking."
Hillary Preston '09 made an immediate contribution with her individual medley and backstroke prowess, and Laura Hester '09 and Katie Morrison '09 have added to the Big Green's freestyle depth.
With the excitement of the younger members taking the helm, Ballentine touched on the legacy that the team's graduating swimmers will leave. "The leadership of the older guys has been second to none and they are some of the best men I have ever had the honor of swimming with," she said.
Regardless of the teams' finish in the league championship, Wilson realizes the importance of the improvements that the program has made this season. "I think when prospective students look at the improvements of the young class over the course of a single season, I think they'll see the chance that we've got to build on a young team rather than an aging team that's going the wrong way," he said.
Ivy Championships for women's swimming and diving are set for Feb. 23-25, while the men's EISL Championships will take place March 2-4.
