Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Big AL Open
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Players Mentioned
Waters, Aemisegger Set Records For Women's Swimming/Diving At Big Al Opening Night
December 05, 2008 | Women's Swimming and Diving
Sophomore Megan Waters made quite a splash on the opening day of the Big Al Open by setting, and then resetting, the Princeton record in the 50 free. She and teammate Alicia Aemisegger both picked up Princeton records for the Tigers, who opened the three-day competition in third place behind No. 5 Florida and Utah.
Florida leads the competition with 378 points, while Utah holds second with 268 points. Princeton is third with 225 points, more than 100 points ahead of Ivy League rivals Columbia and Brown. The competition continues through Sunday; a full schedule can be found at the bottom of this story.
The 200 free relay team of Waters, Justina DiFazio, Emily Trautner and Courtney Kilkuts placed third in 1:32.85 to open the competition. Aemisegger, the two-time Ivy League Championships Swimmer of the Meet and an Olympic Trials finalist last summer, won the first individual event of the competition and set a Princeton record by going 4:39.55 in the 500 free. The time is also an NCAA B-cut and a DeNunzio Pool record. Teammate Monika Friedman, also a member of the 2008 NCAA team, finished sixth with a time of 4:53.44.
Courtney Kilkuts won the 200 IM with an NCAA B-cut time of 2:00.30, while freshman Kerry Gruendel placed seventh in 2:03.79. Kilkuts has had impressive performances at the Big Al Open; last year, she set a Princeton record and posted an NCAA A-cut by going 1:59.10.
Waters set a Princeton record in the 50 free during the preliminary session with a time of 22.90, and she broke that record in the final by going 22.83 for the event win. She was the only Tiger swimmer in the final, but she topped the field and just missed an NCAA B-cut.
The night ended with Princeton finishing fourth in the 400 medley relay; the team of Mary Killian, Kilkuts, Waters and Aemisegger finished in a time of 3:46.01.
The three-day competition, held at Princeton's own DeNunzio Pool, is a good early test for the 2009 Ivy League Championships, which will be held in Long Island. Princeton knows it will face extremely tough competition during the final weekend of February and could easily find itself working from behind as the competition unfolds. Head coach Susan Teeter likes to have this type of early-season challenge to test her young team's fortitude and determination before the heart of the tough Ivy League season unfolds.
The following is the remainder of the schedule for the Big Al Open:
SATURDAY (prelims at 11, finals at 7)
W 200 medley relay
M 200 medley relay
W 400 IM
M 400 IM
W 100 fly
M 100 fly
W 200 free
M 200 free
W 100 breast
M 100 breast
W 100 back
M 100 back
3M diving prelims
at 1:30 p.m.
SUNDAY (prelims at 10, finals at 6)
W 200 back
M 200 back
W 100 free
M 100 free
W 200 breast
M 200 breast
W 200 fly
M 200 fly
W/M 1650 free (all but
fastest heat), to begin
around 4 p.m.