Princeton University Athletics
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Princeton Women Get An Early Ivies Preview As Hosts Of 2015 Big Al Open
December 02, 2015 | Women's Swimming and Diving
DeNunzio Pool has been home for Princeton women's swimming and diving for a quarter century, but this season it holds a special distinction. The biggest Tiger weekends will all take place inside DeNunzio, and that starts Friday with the 2015 Big Al Open. All six sessions of the three-day meet will be streamed live on the Ivy League Digital Network (see links below).
The 2015 Big Al Open • Dec. 4-6, DeNunzio Pool
Teams: Brown, Columbia, Dartmouth, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Princeton, Rider, Villanova
Coverage: Live Video l Live Results
Schedule/Event Order: See bottom of release
Princeton, which will also host H-Y-P and the 2016 Ivy League Championships, are 2-1 on the season, with wins in their Ivy League openers against both Cornell and Penn. They nearly knocked off Miami during a season-opening road meet, and they had several strong performances at both the Penn State Open and the Minnesota Pro Series.
"The beginning of this season has been a great example of tough racing each time we get on the blocks, so it has been impressive to see everyone, from each class, step up and perform, and I could not be more pleased," senior Sada Stewart said. "Big Al is a great time to combine that tough racing with some fast swimming, so it is very important to make a statement with a strong performance to give us momentum for our winter training and scrimmages.
"The faster we swim now, and the more fun we have doing it, the better the morale and training will be leading into our championship season," Stewart added.
This will be Princeton's first Big Al Open since 2013 — the Tigers competed at the Brown Open last December. Stewart, who also won her first Ivy League team championship as a freshman at DeNunzio Pool, has fond memories of that weekend.
"Big Al in 2013 was one of the first times I realized how fun it is to swim fast in Denunzio," she said. "Having the parents and alumni cheering right next to us as we get on the blocks, and being able to see everyone on the team right under the scoreboard after every swim is indescribably motivating. Looking to Ivies in a couple months, it is a great chance for all of us to practice that enthusiasm we want on the deck and in the stands. It is also just a great chance to get some fast racing in mid-season, to see where our training has brought us so far."
The three-day, six-session meet mirrors the Ivy League championships in many ways, including the event order (see below). While H-Y-P is a two-day meet at the end of January, this weekend will give the team an early preparation for Ivies. It also serves as the dual meets for Princeton against both Brown and Dartmouth.
Since Princeton competed in the Brown Open last season, and the Ivy Championships were held at Harvard — where Princeton unseated the host and reigning champion in the final two events — this weekend will also give the underclassmen their first chance to compete in an Ivy Championships-style event before the actual Ivies.
"Never having been to a multi-team meet weekend at DeNunzio, I'm pretty excited for this meet," sophomore Lindsay Temple said. "It's always great to swim at home, and I think there will be a lot of energy on the pool deck with so many teams in the house. Knowing this meet will mirror Ivies in this way, I'm really excited. Ivies 2015 was the most exciting meet I've ever been to and I can't wait to see all of that excitement at DeNunzio this year.
I think that as a team we have progressed a lot since the beginning of the season," Temple added. "We had a lot of opportunity to bond on training trip and during other team events so far this year, and I'm excited to see where that will bring us this weekend. This weekend is pretty important because it's a good way to benchmark where we are training wise and to see what technical things we need to work on for the rest of the season. I think we are in a good place right now with training, so I'm excited to see what we'll do." Friday • Prelims 11 am; Finals 6 pm
Women's / Men's 200 Free Relay
Women's / Men's 500 Free
Women's / Men's 200 IM
Women's / Men's 50 Free
break
Women's / Men's 400 Medley Relay
Friday Diving
2 pm • Men's 1M Prelims
7 pm • Men's 1M Finals
Saturday • Prelims 11 am; Finals 6 pm
Women's / Men's 200 Medley Relay
Women's / Men's 400 IM
Women's / Men's 100 Fly
Women's / Men's 200 Free
Women's / Men's 100 Breast
Women's / Men's 100 Back
break
Women's / Men's 800 Free Relay
Saturday Diving
12 pm • Women's 1M Prelims
4 pm • Men's 3M Prelims
6:30 pm • Women's 1M Finals
7:45 pm • Men's 3M Finals
Sunday • Prelims 10 am; Finals 5 pm
Women's / Men's 1650 Free
Women's / Men's 200 Back
Women's / Men's 100 Free
Women's / Men's 200 Breast
Women's / Men's 200 Fly
break
Women's / Men's 400 Free Relay
Sunday Diving
1:30 pm • Women's 3M Prelims
6 pm • Women's 3M Finals