High Expectations for Men's Swimming

The Columbia men's swimming team already has its sights set on the end of the year.

Despite the fact that the Lions' first Ivy meet will be tomorrow against Dartmouth, the atmosphere has been casual, as the emphasis will not be on the meet result. Instead, the meet will provide returning swimmers opportunities to swim their off events and will give freshmen who have yet to don the Columbia blue their first opportunity at the collegiate level.

"Basically, we don't train for these individual meets," explained junior Darius Dehnad. "We are training for the end of the season EISL [Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League] meet. So we are continuing to train as if we don't really have a meet on Saturday, and the training is pretty hardcore."

The energy of the team is good despite the high level of training at the outset of the season and a flurry of departures among upperclassmen swimmers in the past two months.

For many of the new members of the team, the intense training has required an adjustment period. One such new member is freshman Nick Barron, a 100 and 200 butterflier who looks to contribute greatly in an event that has been a concern since the graduation of the team's sole butterfly specialist.

"Training is different than what I am used to all," Barren said. "On my old team I was not used to mornings and doubles. Getting up early in the morning is definitely a little different, but it's already helping a lot. All of the freshmen are getting used to it."

But even if the swimmers are tired and a little sore from the intense training, they believe that head coach Jim Bolster knows what is needed to achieve their goal of knocking Harvard and Princeton out of the number one and two spots in the Ivy League standing. The Dartmouth meet should help build up the spirit of the team as they prepare to face more serious challenges in the coming weeks.

"This weekend will be the first real college experience for all of us freshmen," Barron said. "Most of the freshmen are excited for this meet, since it's our first chance to show everyone what we are capable of and what we can do in a meet setting."