The men's and women's swimming and diving teams faced tough competition this weekend as both squads faced off against Ivy League foes Yale and the University of Pennsylvania at Penn's Sheerr Pool in Philadelphia on Saturday, Jan. 20. The Dartmouth women fell to the Bulldogs 217-78 and to the Quakers 233-67. Yale men's swimming and diving team downed the Big Green 217-78 and Penn accomplished the same feat 231.5-68.5.
The Big Green did not enter Saturday's competitions with high expectations. With Saturday's meets, the Big Green women's record fell to 3-6, 1-5 in the Ivy League.
"The team did about as we expected. It was a pretty solid performance all around and a lot of people had good scores," women's captain Melissa Kern '07 said.
Kern led the Dartmouth (3-6. 1-5 Ivy) women placing first in the 500-yard freestyle (4:56.94), fourth in the 1000-yard freestyle (10:19.09), and fourth in the 200-yard backstroke (2:06.91).
Heather Jankins '09 had a busy day, placing well in the top five in four events. Jankins started the day swimming the second leg of the women's 200-yard medley relay (1:51.59). Jankins then swam for a fourth place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:06.85), a fifth place in the 50-yard freestyle (24.86), and a fifth place finish in the 100-yard freestyle (53.94).
"Heather Jenkins breast stroke was very strong and we were excited to see her times," said Kern about her teammate's impressive performances.
The Dartmouth women are beginning to focus on the Ivy League Championship that will take place in the DeNunzio Pool in Princeton, N.J from Thursday, Feb. 15 toSaturday, Feb. 17.
The Big Green looks to improve upon last year's Ivy League Championship performance where they placed seventh, finishing directly behind Brown and besting Cornell. Princeton won the Championship in 2006, but this year Harvard will enter the Championship with the best record.
"It's a tough time in the season," said Kern, "and we've all been training and have had some tough races but pushed through it. We are now looking forward to the Ivy Championship."
The Dartmouth men (2-9, 0-7 Ivy) fell just as hard as their female counterparts.
The men did have one particularly bright spot during the weekend losses.
Diver Andrew Berry '08 was the Big Green's star of the meet. Aside from being Dartmouth's only multiple-event winner, impressively taking first in both the one-meter dive event (316.85) and in the three-meter event (344.35) to pace the Big Green. His score in the three-meter event set a pool record. The previous record had been set in 1974.
Kevin Ellis '09 also had impressive performances in the distance events placing first in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:36.85 and second in the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 9:36.25.
The Big Green's swimming and diving action continues next weekend when Dartmouth women face Northeastern in Hanover at Karl Michael Pool on Friday Jan. 26 and both the men's and women's squads face Ivy opponent Princeton in Princeton N.J., on Sunday Jan. 28.
"We are excited for the meet against Northeastern because it is the last home meet for the seniors and last year the meet with Northeastern was very close. There were a lot of tight races and we were fortunate to come out on top. This year Northeastern has a lot of fast freshmen and it should be another close meet," Kern said.
