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#19 Women's Swimming/Diving Prepares Chase For Fourth Straight Ivy League Title
February 25, 2009 | Women's Swimming and Diving
Princeton women's swimming and diving head coach Susan Teeter is a realist. In her 25-year tenure, she has guided the Tigers to 13 Ivy League championships, and she is hopeful that her 19th-ranked Princeton squad can make it 14 this weekend. But she is also well aware that it will take the ultimate team effort to get it done against a talented Ivy League field this season.
"We're excited to have the opportunity to finally rest and race," Teeter said a day before her team made the trip to Long Island, where the three-day competition will be held at the Nassau County Aquatic Center in East Meadow, N.Y. "Hopefully we'll have overcome all the sickness we've endured in the last month. We know we have more than a formidable challenge in front of us. With Harvard's depth this year, we are clearly the underdogs. Regardless, I love that our rivalry with these schools takes us to another level of racing. We'll go out and fight to have more women make NCAA qualifying times and carry on the rich tradition our alumni have built here. I am also very proud that my former swimmer and current colleague Diana Caskey '85 has built such a great program at Columbia and we know they will be swimming very fast at this meet.
"On the diving side, I am excited for Greg Gunn and his divers to have a chance to really show their talent," Teeter continued. "Our senior divers have given a great deal to this program and I'm hoping they all experience the success they deserve."
While some may have seen Princeton, which swept its Ivy League rivals during the regular season, including a 170-148.5 victory over Harvard, as the weekend favorite, Teeter points to the depth within the Crimson program. While a dual meet favors the team that wins the most events, a conference championship meet favors the team places the most finalists. There is no better example than the 2006 and 2007 men's championships, when Princeton won both years while winning a grand total of one event over the two championship meets.
While the psyche sheets do show a significant number of Harvard swimmers, Teeter isn't about to wave the white flag. In 2006, her team was an underdog against a Harvard squad that soundly beat Princeton in the regular season. The Tigers came up with a big Thursday effort to build an early season and never let the momentum stop in a thrilling title win. The freshmen on that team are now seniors, and they have never lost an Ivy League title. Teeter will depend on their leadership, as well as the hunger of her younger swimmers, to get out to another strong start and carry that positive energy throughout another weekend.
And while competing for a league title is always enough, Teeter reminded her team of another source of inspiration that she hopes it can draw upon throughout the weekend.
"We'd like to dedicate this championship in honor of Lorin Maurer," said Teeter, in reference to the former all-league swimmer at Rowan University and cherished Princeton Athletics and Development employee who was killed when Continental Connection Flight 3407 crashed near Buffalo two weeks ago. "She was and always will be a swimmer at heart and was proud to be working down the hall from the pool. We hope our races will reflect her pride in Princeton."
Swimmers are allowed to compete in three individual events and four relays throughout the weekend, so coaches need to wisely choose whom to swim in each particular event. For instance, Teeter has the ultimate weapon in the league in All-America and six-time Ivy League champion Alicia Aemisegger; the Princeton junior holds the league's top time in seven individual events and has been her best in the conference meet. Harvard has a similar decision to make with sophomore Katherine Mills, who holds top-three Ivy League times in four events.
Here is a stroke-by-stroke look at how Princeton fares in each event. At the bottom of this story will be a link for the schedule of events for the weekend. Each day will have a preliminary session in the morning and a championship session in the evening.
FREE
Sophomore Megan Waters holds the Ivy League top time in the 50 (22.83) and the second-best time in the 100 (50.30), while freshman Jillian Altenburger holds the third-best time in the 100 and the second-best time in the 200 (1:46.97). Both will likely need high finishes for Princeton in one of the most varied fields throughout the competition, as Harvard, Columbia and Yale all have competitive sprinters. Senior co-captain Justina DiFazio shouldn't be counted out; the veteran and former Ivy champion placed third in both the 100 and 200 last year, and she has proven quite capable of handling the conference-meet pressure.
As the sprints end and the distance competition begins, the depth in Harvard's program becomes clearer. The Crimson has four of the top five times in both the 500 and 1000, as well as the second- and third-fastest times in the 1650. The fastest at each distance belongs to Aemisegger, who won all three events at the 2008 Ivy League championship meet. But for Princeton to avoid losing major points in these races, it will take other swimmers having season-best races to get it done. It could come from Monika Friedman, who swept the fly events last year but also has the sixth-best 500 time this season. It could come from Ming Ong, who has the seventh-best time in the 1000, or it could come from freshmen like Aislinn Smalling or Lauren Shanley, who both have strong times in the 1650.
Or maybe there are others, like sophomore Nicole McAndrew, who placed in the top six in all three distance events in last year's championships. Wherever it comes from, Teeter will depend on other swimmers besides Aemisegger to get into the finals of the distance events.
BACK
Princeton will also need some season-best swims in the back events, which are loaded with both Harvard and Columbia swimmers. Waters will challenge for the 100 title, as her time of 55.45 was the second-best in the league this season, but only freshman Mary Killian joins her in the Top 10. At the 200, Ming Ong finished with the eighth-best time at 2:04.98. Sophomore Julie Kochman isn't on either Top 10, but she showed a late-season burst last year by finishing fourth in the 100 and third in the 200.
BREAST
Junior Courtney Kilkuts is a multiple-time Ivy League champion, and she will look to defend her 100 title. Her time of 1:03.09 that she swam at the Big Al Open gives her a share of the league's top time with Columbia sophomore Mariele Dunn. Freshmen Caitlin Baran and Kerry Gruendel both have Top 10 times in the events and will try to move into the Top 5, although there are a trio of Harvard freshmen with the same aspirations.
In the 200, Kilkuts' time of 2:15.88, which also came during the Big Al weekend, is second to Yale senior Susan Kim (2:15.08). Baran, Altenburger and fellow freshman Hannah Cody are among the Top 10 as well; this could be a stroke that is greatly impacted by the terrific freshman class Princeton brought in this season.
FLY
Aemisegger holds the Ivy League's best time in both the 100 and the 200, while Friedman is the defending champion in both. Friedman has the seventh-best time in the 200, but after last season, she can't be counted out in either competition. Sophomore Emily Trautner has also experienced Ivy League success in this stroke, while DiFazio and co-captain Meghan Capparell could also factor into the championship races.
INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY
Kilkuts is the reigning 200 IM champion and has the league's best time at 2:00.30, nearly two seconds faster than anybody in the field. She qualified for the NCAAs in this event last year and will look for another A-cut time this weekend. Freshmen Gruendel and Altenburger are also top 200 IM competitors, which could set Princeton up well in this event, which is one of the few Thursday night showdowns.
As for the 400, Aemisegger could compete in this event, which she owns the top time by more than 7.5 seconds; this was the event she that qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials finals last summer. If she doesn't swim here, Teeter could look towards Altenburger for a victory. The freshman has a B-cut time of 4:16.92 heading into the weekend.
DIVING
After a heroic effort at the HYP meet, both Teeter and Gunn feel good about the diving group Princeton will send into the championship weekend. It is led by 2007 Ivy League Championships Diver of the Meet Katie Giarra, who won both the 1- and 3-meter competitions two seasons ago and battled back from injury last year to finish second in both events. She won both competitions at HYP and will be among the favorites in East Meadow this weekend.
Within Giarra's diving class are both Peggy Kearns and Sheby Rudd, both of whom have the combination of talent and experience that could lead to a major effort on either board. And while that experience helps, younger divers like Carolyn Littlefield, Courtney Feldman and Christina Kirkwood have all showed strong efforts already this season and could push Princeton forward if they can qualify for either the championship or consolation finals on one or both boards.
RELAYS
Without knowing who will swim on what relay, it's impossible to project who will be strongest in any of the five events. The importance of the relays can't be understated, for a couple of reasons. First of all, the point difference between first and second in a relay is greater than that in an individual event, so winning as many relays as possible is crucial. Even more than that, any sort of disqualification in a relay could be too big a burden to overcome for any program. Teeter has always preached the importance of relays to her team, and she will undoubtedly do so again this weekend.
GoPrincetonTigers.com will have nightly updates as the undefeated Princeton Tigers swim for their fourth straight and 19th overall Ivy League championship. For the official order of events, click here.