The Dartmouth women's swim and dive team came home empty-handed after dropping their third meet of the season at the University of Vermont on Jan. 7. The team, competing for the first time in nearly a month, lost the closely contested match to the Catamounts, 158-142.
Wednesday's meet was the only time the team's seniors had lost their annual match-up with Vermont.
Co-captain Liz Mancuso'08 was not discouraged by her first loss to the Catamounts, but suggested that excess training may be slowing the team down for the time being. In a move that may suggest the emphasis the team puts on out of conference races, the team has been up and lifting weights at 6 a.m. Wednesday morning.
"Once we start to rest and cut back on the amount of yardage, I think we're going to see a dramatic change in our performance," Mancuso said.
Increased anticipation for the meet was built as both teams were coming off of grueling off-campus winter training regimens.
Dartmouth coach Jim Wilson knew that his team would face a challenge in Vermont.
"[Vermont has] been in training in Florida and will be ready for us," he said in an interview on Jan 6.
Reflecting on the Big Green's training trip to Ireland over the winter recess, Wilson said the team "did well for being in a foreign land," but he also pointed out that "working twice a day for nine days will take its toll, and getting back to school is tough on everyone mentally."
The competitive threat posed by Vermont did not surprise the team or its coaching staff.
"[The Catamounts] have new freshman and an increased scholarship budget that will make them tough to beat," Wilson said.
There were several notable individual victories for the Dartmouth women, however, that included an impressive performance fromMancuso. Mancuso won the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 25.33, the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 59.70 and the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:13.24.
Virginia Selden '11 finished first in the 200-yard butterfly with a posted time of 2:12.25 and Heather Jankins '09 won the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:08.70, while Meredith Blank '10 and Katrina Ortblad '10 finished first and second, respectively, in the 100-yard breaststroke with corresponding times of 1:12.22 and 1:13.59.
For the diving team, Bridget Duffey '11 won the 1m dive with a score of 227.60.
The meet was exciting, according to Mancuso, in part due to the match-up between a top-heavy Vermont squad that features a swimmer that has made national cuts in the backstroke and a Big Green squad known for its depth.
"Vermont was a lot stronger than they have been in years back. We had more depth, we just didn't get the points we needed," Mancuso said.
Wilson emphasized how close the meet was, while also giving credit to Vermont.
"UVM did a really good job and were definitely ready," he admitted. "They even set a couple pool records."
Wilson went on to explain: "We lost some close races, and lost the 100 yard freestyle by one one-hundredth of a second, which is just a blink of the eye."
Wilson also emphasized before the meet that the team had long-term goals outside of winning on Wednesday night.
"I'm hoping that all the swimmers and divers will swim or dive on par with where they've been in the season previously," Wilson said. "Coming off of our hardest training of the year and holding our speed and agility will be a big plus and give us a boost when we rest for the end of the season."
After the meet, Wilson acknowledged that there is still work to be done.
"We were more erratic [with our times] than I'd hoped. We had some up to par but a few more than I had hoped were below par."
The Big Green women hope to rebound against Boston University on Jan. 12. The meet starts at 1 p.m. Dartmouth's Karl Michael Pool.
