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#25 Women's Swimming/Diving Tops Columbia For Perfect Ivy Season, 23rd Straight Win
February 07, 2009 | Women's Swimming and Diving
Following an exciting victory at the HYP meet in Boston, Princeton women's swimming and diving head coach Susan Teeter wanted to see her team finish off the regular season with another strong effort. Great swims from some very familiar, as well as some less familiar, faces led Princeton to a 156-123 win, the Tigers' 23rd in a row.
One of the less familiar faces to star for Princeton was freshman Leslie Bargmann, who won two events during the competition. She opened with a victory in the 200 fly (2:07.18), and followed that up with a victory in the 100, although her race was considered an exhibition swim and didn't count towards the team score. She swam it in 58.12.
Princeton got off to a good start when senior diver Katie Giarra won the 1-meter diving competition with 291.68 points, less than three points more than Columbia's Shannon Hosey. The roles were reversed later in the meet on the 3-meter board, where Hosey took first and Giarra placed second. The next time these two divers will meet will come in three weeks at the Ivy League championships, and it's quite possible one or both league diving titles could come down to those two competitors.
The first swim event was the 200 medley relay, and Columbia won in 1:45.69; the Princeton team of Megan Waters, Courtney Kilkuts, Alicia Aemisegger and Jillian Altenburger finished second in 1:46.57.
Princeton took over when the individual events began, starting with senior co-captain Justina DiFazio's victory in the 200 free. She won with a time of 1:54.53, while Kilkuts placed second in 1:55.96. Sophomore Megan Waters claimed the 50 back in 27.56, continuing her strong run which included a pair of wins during HYP weekend.
Columbia's Mariele Dunn won the 50 back in 29.83, but Bargmann followed that with her victory in the 200 fly; sophomore Nicole McAndrew took second in the 200 fly with a time of 2:08.98, while senior Joelle Milov placed third in 2:10.85.
Columbia's Hannah Galey won a showdown with Altenburger in the 50 free (24.41/24.91), but Altenburger would find the victory stand four events later. She won the 200 breast in 2:24.84, topping classmate Caitlin Baran's time of 2:28.72.
Rebecca Nyquist won the 100 free in 53.77, while Kilkuts took third in 54.17. Columbia went 1-2 in the 200 back, while Waters (2:08.68) and senior co-captain Meghan Capparell (2:10.00) finished third and fourth, respectively.
Sophomore Ming Ong had one of the best swims of the day, winning the 500 in 5:01.51. That turned out to be nearly five full seconds faster than the rest of the field. Senior Monika Friedman won the 100 fly in 58.43, topping Nyquist (59.10), who placed second.
The most familiar name on the Princeton roster, Alicia Aemisegger, won the 200 IM in 2:02.68; by doing so, she beat the pool record of Columbia's most familiar swimmer ever, Olympian Cristina Teuscher. Aemisegger won the event by more than five seconds.
Aemisegger and the unbeaten Princeton squad will now turn their attention to the 2009 Ivy League championships, held Feb. 26-28 in Long Island. Princeton has won the last three Ivy League titles, but Harvard pushed the Tigers last weekend and is considered a strong contender for the crown. Check back with GoPrincetonTigers.com during championship week for a full event preview.