Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Swimming/Diving Squads Prepare For Annual HYP Showdown
February 01, 2008 | Men's Swimming and Diving
The best rivalry in Ivy League swimming and diving will resume this weekend when Princeton, Harvard and Yale meet in men's and women's competitions at Kiphuth Pool in Payne Whitney Gymnasium at Yale. Both competitions will take place over two days, with the men's competition to begin Friday night at 6 p.m. The women will open Saturday night and conclude the afternoon of Super Sunday.
Live results should be available by clicking on the link above.
MEN
Princeton and No. 24 Harvard both enter the weekend unbeaten and occupy the top two spots in the most recent CollegeSwimming.com mid-major poll (Harvard is ranked first). The Tigers have had the upper hand in each of the last two EISL championship meets and edged Harvard last year in the regular season showdown. While Princeton's overall depth is best suited for the league meet, it will need to show up this weekend against a formidable Harvard squad and a Yale team that is 5-1, 4-1 in the EISL.
"The HYP meet is always a great chance to step up and race against two of the top teams in the Ivy League," senior tri-captain Stan Buncher said. "We've been training well over the past couple of months, and we're excited about the opportunity to compete against Harvard and Yale this weekend."
Princeton is led by 2007 EISL champion Doug Lennox and juniors Will Schaffer and Robert Griest, both of whom combined for five top-four finishes at last year's league meet. They will be competing against the two two scorers from that meet, Harvard senior Geoff Rathgeber and Yale sophomore Alex Righi.
Princeton will compete at home against Navy and Columbia over the next two weekends before heading to Boston for the EISL championships March 6-8.
WOMEN
The two-time defending Ivy League champion Princeton Tigers are ranked just outside the Top 25 and could jump into the national poll with a sweep this weekend. Princeton hasn't lost an Ivy League meet since falling to Harvard in 2005, but the Tigers bounced back last season and swept both the regular season meeting and the Ivy League championship.
Princeton is led by Alicia Aemisegger, a three-time All America selection last season. Aemisegger posted the fastest time of any American woman in the 200 IM in January (2:13.92) and the second-fastest time in the 400 IM (4:41.65). She won the Ivy League title in three events last year and was named Swimmer of the Meet. Justina DiFazio and Courtney Kilkuts are both defending Ivy League champions, and the latter has already posted an NCAA A-qualifying time in the 200 IM.
"We're excited about getting tuned up for the Ivy League conference meet at home and this HYP meet always gets us going," head coach Susan Teeter said. "We respect the long and traditional rivalry these three teams hold and know it makes the dual meet race all that more exciting. We look forward to racing these teams this weekend and then again for the championship at the end of February."
The top five returning individual point scorers from the 2007 Ivy League Championships will be at Kiphuth Pool this weekend: Aemisegger (1st, 96 points), DiFazio (2nd, 92 points), Harvard's Alexandra Clarke (t-4th, 88 points) and Lindsay Hart (t-4th, 88 points) and Kilkuts (t-7th, 86 points).
Both Princeton and Harvard are 5-0 and unbeaten in Ivy competition (Harvard is 5-0, Princeton is 4-0). Yale is 5-1, 3-1. Princeton will conclude its Ivy League season Friday, Feb. 8 against Columbia, and then will gear up for the Ivy League championships, which will be held Feb. 28-March 1 at DeNunzio Pool.