Yale Athletics
Defeating Cornell with a lopsided final tally of 232–68, the Yale women’s swimming and diving team continued its undefeated streak of head-to-head matchups this week with its victory over the Big Red.
Just a week after demolishing Seton Hall in their final home match of the season, the Bulldogs took to the road to face off against Cornell for their first stop in a series of away tournaments that will conclude with the NCAA nationals. Improving on their previous victory’s margin of 278–82, the Elis swam fiercely throughout the two-day match, securing first place in every event.
“The women’s team was dominant from start to finish with some great racing across the board,” Bella Hindley ’19 said. “Our divers in particular did an incredible job, with both of them breaking the one-meter pool record to start the team off in a great place.”
Hannah Walsh ’19 and Talbott Paulsen ’19 gave Yale an early lead Friday afternoon after sweeping the diving events. Talbott and Walsh finished first and third in the three-meter dive while the pair took the top two spots in the subsequent one-meter dive.
Their performances also broke records. Just one week after Paulsen set a Yale pool record in the one-meter diving event, both Paulsen and Walsh smashed the Teagle pool record for the same event.
On Saturday morning, the Elis extended their lead further after taking the top two and three spots in the 200-yard medley relay and 1000-yard freestyle, respectively. Nathalie Eid ’21 trounced the competition in the 1000-yard freestyle (10:20.75), followed by teammates Ashley Loomis ’22 (10:27.15) and Sophie Fontaine ’20 (10:32.83).
Loomis had another strong swim in the 500-yard freestyle (4:58.02), with the Bulldogs sweeping the top three spots in the event yet again. Kendall Brent ’20 (4:58.81) placed second, and Fontaine touched the wall in 5:14.29 to take third.
Yale also clinched the top three spots in the 100-yard freestyle and the 200-yard butterfly. Marlise Moesch ’22 paced the Bulldogs in the 100-yard freestyle for her first win this year, completing the race in 51.81 seconds. Meanwhile, Raime Jones ’22 came in at 51.95 seconds, taking second in the 100-yard freestyle in addition to first in the 200-yard freestyle (1:50.88).
In the 200-yard butterfly, Bebe Thompson ’20 (2:03.56) touched the wall less than a second before Carrie Heilbrun ’19 (2:04.02) and captain Sophie Pilkinton ’19 (2:06.94) to take te top of the podium. Thompson also took first in the 400-yard individual medley (4:28.41).
“The team looks to be in really great shape,” Thompson said. “Our depth is remarkable. Of my three years here, I’ve never been on a team that’s this strong all around.”
Hindley added two more victories to her string of successes in the sprint freestyle and backstroke events, taking first in the 50-yard freestyle (23.05) and 100-yard backstroke (55.70).
To complete its streak of first place wins in every event, Yale took first in the 400-yard freestyle relay, the 200-yard backstroke and the 100-yard butterfly. Cate Sawkins ’21, a staff reporter for the News, won the 200-yard backstroke, finishing with a time of 2:02.68, while Lili Margitai ’20 took first in the 100-yard butterfly (56.18).
The Bulldogs will look to finish the year strong with a perfect 10–0 record as they head into their championship season. After falling short of the Ivy conference title last spring, members of the team expressed confidence that the team will reclaim the top spot, as well as build on its season’s momentum to perform strongly at the NCAA nationals.
Yale will next compete in the annual tri-meet against Harvard and Princeton on the first weekend of February in Alston, Mass.
Alex Reedy | alex.reedy@yale.edu