Columbia Makes History In Defeat of Dartmouth

The dual meet season for the Columbia women’s swimming and diving team ended this past weekend. The Light Blue beat Dartmouth on Saturday with a convincing score of 192-106. This win put the Lions to 9-2 overall and 5-2 in the Ivy League. With this triumph, this season’s team finished with the best dual meet record in the history of the Light Blue swimming program.

Capturing the top three spots in five out of the sixteen events, the Lions began with a sweep of the 200-yard medley relay. Sophomore Delghir Urubshurow, freshman Mariele Dunn, sophomore Allison Hobbs, and freshman Erica Dorfman won the event with a time of 1:47.14. Columbia also finished in the top two places in nine of the sixteen events, highlighting both the team and its individuals at Uris Pool.

The meet started off with the two-meter diving event. After six rounds of dives, junior Shannon Hosey was able to come out in front of the competition, and fellow junior Joanna Corby placed third in the event. Later that day, Hosey and Corby would put on a magnificent diving display in the one-meter dive, taking first and second. Hosey won her second event of the day, and Corby finished the event with a score of 268.80. This score was high enough to qualify Corby for the NCAA Diving Zones. Hosey, who won the event with final marks of 269.25, also qualified for zones. After competing at Ivies, the divers have the chance to compete in Buffalo at the zone meet.

In addition to sweeping the diving events, the Lions set new pool records. Junior Hannah Galey broke the first record of the day in the 100-yard freestyle. After chasing the record all season, Galey stepped up to the block, evidently focused. Suspense ensued as the scoreboard clock malfunctioned and failed to post any of the swimmers’ splits or final times, but Galey, as it turned out, broke the record with a time of 50.19. The excitement continued as news developed that Galey had not only broken the pool record but also the Columbia varsity record for women’s swimming, set in 2000 by former Olympic gold medalist Cristina Teuscher.

Four events later, the Light Blue again battled for a new record. Sophomore Allison Hobbs, coming off of a very impressive swim in the 100-yard butterfly several weeks ago, entered the meet with a legitimate chance of beating the pool record from 2003. In the last home meet of the year, Hobbs started off the race at a steady pace, and at the finish, the crowd silently watched the scoreboard, waiting for the final time. As it turned out, Hobbs had captured the 100-yard butterfly Uris Pool record with a time of 56.69.

At the meet’s end, the junior class said farewell to the graduating seniors co-captain Amy Krakauer, co-captains Lisa Rohrs and Madeline Merrill, and Whitney Hall. The Light Blue also said goodbye to junior Mary Dooe, who will be graduating early. The Lions now have a week off to practice before the go to the ECAC championships or to Princeton, NJ to compete in the Ivy League Championship.