The Big Green which finished in eighth place in last year's competition experienced several positive individual performances, including multiple results that broke Dartmouth and personal records.
"I think the expectations on the individuals were exceeded for everyone on the team," head coach Jim Wilson said.
Swimmer Christine Kerr '14 said the weekend's individual performances were "outstanding."
"I think everyone had a best which was amazing," she said. "I don't think the team has ever improved as much."
Meredith Sweeney '14 and Galen Barry '12 both broke the previous Dartmouth record in the 200-yard backstroke during the preliminary rounds. They placed fourth and eighth place, respectively, in the finals.
Danielle Kerr '14 also created a Dartmouth record in the preliminary rounds, setting a new mark of 1:59.88 in the 200-yard butterfly event. She eventually placed seventh in the finals.
Kendall Farnham '14 reached the finals in the 100-yard and 200-yard butterfly events, finishing fourth in both races.
The Dartmouth relay teams also performed well. The 800-yard freestyle relay team Christine Kerr, Danielle Kerr, Kirstin Hocheder '14 and Madeline Steiner '11 finished fifth. The 400-yard freestyle relay squad Steiner, Christine Kerr, Danielle Kerr and Elizabeth Kamai '12 placed sixth.
Katy Feng '14 reached the final in two diving events. She placed fourth in the three-meter event and seventh in the one-meter competition.
Although the team made noteworthy individual efforts, it fell just short of its overall team goals.
"It was a faster competition than I had anticipated," Wilson said. "We finished sixth while expecting to finish fifth."
The team narrowly lost to Yale University, which achieved the fifth-place finish.
"One of our relays was disqualified and we would have gotten points there that would have probably helped," Wilson said.
Big Green athletes interviewed by The Dartmouth said they were excited by the team's improvement.
"We really wanted to place better than last year and I'd say we were very successful because we were sixth," Christine Kerr said. "And we had lots of people getting into the finals, which didn't happen last year. We were really happy with the results."
Barring time-qualification for the NCAA Championship next month, the competition was the last meet for the Big Green's three seniors Lindsay Wahl '11, and co-captains Steiner and Virginia Selden '11.
"[The seniors] did a great job with their leadership," Christine Kerr said. "And they're great people great captains this year."
Wilson added that the senior swimmers performed well in the competition.
"They were really close to their lifetimes' bests if not better," he said. "We counted on seniors for their leadership, saw the team go from a doormat to being a force in the Ivy League."
Wilson said the team will now concentrate on development, and will work to challenge the League's best teams.
"They can compete with anybody in this League, even though Harvard [University] and Princeton [University] have been powerhouses in this League," he said, adding that he believes the Big Green will be an improved team next year. "We need to start thinking of [Harvard and Princeton] as mere mortals and we can get there."
