Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Swimming/Diving Teams Open 08-09 Ivy Seasons Friday At DeNunzio Pool
November 20, 2008 | Men's Swimming and Diving
Following an exciting year for Princeton men's and women's swimming, which ranged from league championships to the NCAA Championships and beyond to both the U.S. Olympic Trials and the 2008 Summer Olympics, the Orange and Black have set its sights once again on the Ivy League. Both teams will open their league seasons Friday night at DeNunzio Pool against both Penn and Cornell; the tri-meet begins at 6 p.m.
The order of events for both the men's and women's meets can be found at the bottom of this story.
The Princeton men, ranked No. 22 in the nation, are led by tri-captains Robert Griest, Doug Lennox and Will Schaffer, each of whom has been a consistent scorer for Princeton at the Ivy League championship meet (previously called the EISL championship). Lennox, a 2008 Oympian for the Puerto Rican national team, is the reigning 200 fly champion and an All-America in the event, while both Griest (distance free) and Schaffer (IM/breast) should be competitive for Ivy League titles this season.
But the depth goes well beyond the top three, and it has been that depth that has led Princeton to two out of the last three championships. The Tigers put multiple finalists in 10 of the 16 individual events at last year's league meet, and the majority of those competitors return to the team this season. That level of experience, combined with a freshman class ranked fifth nationally by collegeswimming.com, has led to great excitement for the 2008-09 season.
The Princeton men will face early tests from several opponents, including Cornell senior Wes Newman, who won the 2008 200 free title, and Penn junior James Fee, a finalist in the 1000 free.
The Princeton women were just outside of the polls entering the season, but they are looking forward to the opportunity of earning a place once again among the national elite. Princeton ended the 2008 season ranked 18th nationally after cruising to a third-straight Ivy League title. While Olympic Trials finalist and seven-time All-America Alicia Aemisegger is clearly the face of the program, there is also great depth among the women. Head coach Susan Teeter's team returns three reigning Ivy League champions (Aemisegger, Courtney Kilkuts and Monika Friedman) and a handful of championship finalists from the 2008 Ivy meet.
Like men's coach Rob Orr, Teeter made sure she reloaded with another stellar freshman class. The Class of 2012 was ranked 14th by collegeswimming.com and includes a couple of swimmers who put up strong showings in the Rutgers Invitational from last weekend. The women will also face some tough tests, including from 2008 100- and 200-back champion Sara Coenen of Penn and Cornell freshmen Emily Dean and Heather Miller, both of whom had strond performances against Harvard and Dartmouth last weekend.
Women's Order of Events
200 Medley relay
Diving 1 meter
1000 Freestyle
200 Freestyle
100 Backstroke
100 Breaststroke
200 Butterfly
50 Freestyle
-swimming break-
Diving- 3 meter
100 Freestyle
200 Backstroke
200 Breaststroke
500 Freestyle
100 Butterfly
-short break-
200 IM
200 Freestyle relay
Men's Order of Events
200 Medley Relay
1000 Freestyle
200 Freestyle
100 Backstroke
100 Breastroke
200 Butterfly
50 Freestyle
1M Diving
100 Freestyle
200 Backstroke
200 Breastroke
500 Freestyle
100 Butterfly
3M Diving
200 Individual Medley
400 Freestyle Relay