Women's Swimming Travels to Big Al Invite

The Columbia women’s swimming and diving team will look to pick up where it left off this weekend at the Big Al Invitational in Princeton, N.J. Before getting the chance to rest up over the Thanksgiving break, Columbia defeated Fordham, completing its marathon of three meets in four days on a high note. The Lions return to action in the Big Al Invitational, in which they will face Brown, Florida, Rider, Utah, Rutgers, and host Princeton. During last season’s invite, Columbia placed sixth, trailing first-place Penn State by 791 points.
With the inclusion of the Gators—ranked fifth in the nation—the competition will be heightened this year. If the Lions wish to improve upon last year’s results, they must perform well against Florida. While the majority of Florida’s younger swimmers will be in attendance in Princeton, the team will be split as the upperclassmen head off to the U.S. Short Course Nationals in Atlanta.
The Tigers have also been competing well this season and are nationally ranked just outside of the top 25. During its recent home opener, Princeton defeated Cornell and Penn in a tri-meet. The first victories of the meet went to the Tigers’ 200-yard medley relay teams that finished 1-2 in the first event. Touching the wall first with a combined time of 1:48.45, Princeton’s Julie Kochman, Courtney Kilkuts, Megan Waters, and Justine DiFazio completed the race in a time 1.78 seconds longer than it took Columbia’s Lauren Fraley, Mariele Dunn, Allison Hobbs, and Erica Dorfman during their last competition.
The three-day meet will consist of two rounds of competitions per day beginning with preliminary contests on Friday at 11 a.m in the 500-yard free, 200 IM, 50-yard free, and 200-yard free relay.