Yale swimming and diving dominated Cornell at the Kiphuth Exhibition Pool on Saturday. It was senior night and the last home meet for the Bulldogs. Members of both the men’s and women’s teams helped the seniors put a convincing stamp on their Yale careers. The men’s team defeated the Big Red 204.5–95.5 and the women’s team won 189.5–93.5.
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“To do that in my senior year, at home, on senior night, was an incredible feeling,” said Christopher Luu ’12, captain of the men’s team.
The men’s team (3–0, dual meet) won 12 of its 14 events. For Luu, the meet’s high points were the beginning and the end. At the beginning of the meet, Luu and the other seniors ran through a tunnel made by underclassmen and were recognized for their contributions to the team.
Luu said that “just going through the tunnel and realizing it had been such a long road” was a highlight.
At the end of the meet, Yale took the top three spots in the last three individual events, the 500 freestyle, the 100 butterfly and the 200 individual medley. First-place finishers were Rob Harder ’15 (4:44.02) in the 500 freestyle, Gokso Bicer ’12 (48.98) in the 100 butterfly and Mike Lazris ’15 (1:55.86) in the 200 individual medley. Luu added that this was a fitting end to the meet.
The beginning and end of the meet may have been special, but throughout the entire meet the Bulldogs outswam Cornell. The team finished first in relays such as the 200-yard medley where Lazris, Andrew Heymann ’15, Bicer, and Pat Killian ’13 took first with a time of 1:32.87. Underclassmen and those swimming different events than usual stepped up as well and contributed to the team, said Luu. Josh Ginsborg ’15, for example, swam a 9:29.70 to win the 1000-yard freestyle.
Just like the men’s team, the women’s team (1–1, dual meets) won 12 of its 14 events. Early in the meet, the girls posted a 1, 2, 3 sweep in the one-meter diving event. Captain Rachel Rosenberg ’12 won the event and qualified for the NCAA zone diving championships in March.
In the events that followed, Molly Albrecht ’13 won the 1000-yard freestyle by over 20 seconds, with a time of 10:26.76, which she said is a “good place to start going forward.” The team also swept the 200-yard freestyle event with Joan Weaver ’13 (1:52.74), Cynthia Tsay ’13 (1:55.25) and Cassidy Lapp ’15 (1:56.98). The typical team leaders performed well, said Christina Teuscher, head coach of the women’s team, but more impressive was the strong effort “across the board.”
Teuscher said the highlight of the meet was seeing the swimmers enjoying themselves.
“That’s something they need in the dead of winter and coming off of a training trip,” she said. Teuscher said the next two months are “critical” to the team’s success at the Ivy League Championships at the end of February, She added that “the momentum” to do well was present at the meet.
The success of the meet was particularly meaningful as it came on the heels of a training trip to Florida. Teuscher said the training trip had more rigorous practices than those faced during the semester when classes are in session.
The next meet for both teams is against Penn and Dartmouth, at Dartmouth, next Saturday, Jan. 14.