Women's Swimming Battles Quizzes and Quakers

Last weekend the Columbia women’s swimming team traveled to compete in the Big Al meet in Princeton, N.J. When discussing the meet, head coach Diana Caskey had this to say: “Our goals for the Princeton Big Al Invite were to swim well in a championship meet setting and remind our bodies and psyches about the energy output at a three-day competition. Both goals were accomplished. We were racing a few teams that were rested and shaved and once we settled into understanding that, we got into gear and had a lot of great swims.”

With the successful meet last week, the Lions now must turn their attention toward Ivy League rival Penn.

Last season the Lions fell to the Quakers by a score of 112.5-87.5. The Light Blue also failed to out-rank Penn at the Ivy League Championships last year, a fact that has not eluded the mind of the team.

“They beat us both in the dual meet last year and for the first time at Ivies last year. We want to return the favor this year,” Caskey said. "The Lions could in fact return the favor—they are off to a great start this season and did not look bad in the water last weekend—but it will be getting over the exhaustion of the meet that will determine success against the Quakers."

Columbia will look for a strong performance from junior diver Shannon Hosey, who is coming off an impressive fifth-place finish at the diving invitational that took place at Rutgers this past weekend. In the swimming aspect of the meet, the Lions should look for one-two finishes in the breaststroke events on the backs of senior co-captain Amy Krakauer and Mariele Dunn. The Light Blue will need to concentrate its efforts during the freestyle and butterfly events, but it will be the relay events that will determine this year’s result. Against the Quakers last season, Columbia struggled in the relays that eventually led to both of the team’s defeats.

The Lions should be the favorites to come away with a victory and improve their record to 5-1 (2-1 Ivy). In addition to this goal, Caskey believes that the most important part of this weekend’s meet—besides achieving a victory—is to come out of the water a more cohesive unit than when the team went in.

Columbia faces off against Penn tonight at 6 p.m. in Uris Pool. The Lions will also compete against Wagner tomorrow in Staten Island.