"I think we definitely could have done better," co-captain Catherine Armstrong '10 said. "People weren't swimming close to the times they had done two days before."
Co-captain Carolyn Rippe '10 said the team's break from swimming on Thursday to recover from Wednesday's meet ultimately hurt the Big Green (2-10, 0-6 Ivy), since the squad went into Saturday's meet without that day of preparation.
In diving, however, the Big Green earned top honors. Serpico kept up her near-perfect record by taking the top spot in both the one-meter and three-meter dive events, posting scores of 264.74 and 289.95, respectively.
Bridget Duffey '11, Kate O'Brien '13 and Kat Brady '10 followed right behind Serpico, taking second, third and fourth, respectively, in the one-meter dive.
In the three-meter dive, Duffey, O'Brien and Brady placed third, fourth and fifth, respectively.
"[Barry] continues to amaze us week after week," Rippe said. "She's really building up excitement for Ivies."
With first-place finishes in all three of her events, Barry had a career day in Saturday's meet against against Northeastern (7-5, 0-3 CAA). The sophomore took the top spot in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:00.97, the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:08.59 and the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:15.90.
"[Barry] works really hard in practice, and she loves to race," Rippe said. "I think her performance on Saturday really reflected what she can do in the pool."
Barry attributed her success this weekend to her focus before the race.
"[I'm] trying not to think too much," she said. "I just get up and swim my race, not thinking about who [the competition] is and how fast they are."
In the 200-yard individual medley, the Big Green took the three top spots, with Charlotte Williams '13 taking second and Caitlin Keenan '12 placing third.
Caitlin Nicholson '12 took second in the 100-yard butterfly, clocking in at 59.21, while Isa Guardalabene '13 finished second in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:01.34.
Rippe was particularly proud of Guardalabene's performance in the meet and throughout the season, she said.
"[Guardalabene] is really stepping up and swimming a lot of different events," Rippe said. "The coaches will throw her in any event, and she is really adapting well and swimming well."
Rippe added that Nicholson's performance was also impressive, as she rebounded from a rough start to the meet.
Maddie Steiner '11 competed in the 1000-yard freestyle for the first time in her career and notched an impressive second-place finish with a time of 10:53.11.
This weekend, Dartmouth travels to New York City to take on swimming powerhouse Columbia University in its last dual meet before the Ivy League Championships.
Barry said that the Lions will be tough competition, but a good warm-up for Ivies.
"[We're] trying to just get more rest and sharpen up the little things in the race," she said. "Those are the things that make a big difference in the end."
Armstrong also said she believes it will be an opportunity to fine-tune individual performances.
"[The Columbia meet] is this interesting combination between race preparation for Ivies and mixing in some non-primary events for everyone," she said. "As we prepare for that, we're definitely going to be thinking about racing in the moment and not looking at the bigger picture."
With the Championships only two weeks away, the team has geared a lot of its training toward getting ready for Ivies. After a sixth place finish at last year's competition, the team is looking to improve its times across the board and place higher this year, Barry said.
"We've had some great meets and some not so great meets, but overall team morale has been high," she said. "Everyone's just really been working hard to pull their weight and we're excited to see how we do at the end."
