Tag Archive: Swimming

  1. SWIMMING | Mixed results for swimmers at Cornell

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    The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams started off the new year with dual meets at Cornell on Saturday, and saw opposite results. The men’s team fell to the Big Red 134–166 while the women won a decisive victory, winning all but four events to finish with a final score of 187–113.

    The men came out to a hot start with four successive victories. Eric Olson ’11 won the 1-mtr diving event while Tyler Pramer ’14 won the 3-mtr diving event with scores of 289.13 and 333.90 respectively.

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    “Cornell has pretty good divers but our divers were great,” captain Kyle Veatch ’11 said. “We were ahead before the [swim] meet even started.”

    The relay team of Jason Choi ’11, Chris Luu ’12, Veatch and Pat Killian ’14 began the swimming events with an exciting finish in the 200-yd medley relay. They clinched first in 1:34.03, only tenths of a second ahead of Cornell.

    The meet continued to look good for the Yale men as Matt Lee ’11 and Mikey Bogese ’14 finished first and third respectively in the 1000-yd freestyle.

    Despite strong performances by Killian, West Cuthbert ’14 and Ed Becker ’14 in the next event, the 200-yd freestyle, the Big Red disrupted the Bulldogs’ momentum and grabbed the victory in the event. Killian finished second in 1:43.42, Cuhtbert finished third in 1:44.50, and Becker finished fifth in 1:44.96.

    The event was the turning point in the meet as Cornell went on to win the next three races.

    Luu lead the charge for the Bulldogs in the breaststroke events but could not keep up with the final surges of Julian Chan of Cornell. Luu finished second in both the 100-yd and 200-yd breaststroke with times of 58.91 and 2:08.52 respectively.

    Veatch continued his successful season in the sprint events, winning both the 50-yd freestyle and 100-yd butterfly with times of 21.30 and 50.11 respectively.

    “I felt best in my 100 fly,” Veatch said. “I thought I swam well considering the ten days of hard swimming before hand. I should have won the 100 free though.”

    Dean Holcomb of Cornell came from behind to win the 100-yd freestyle in 46.85, less than three-tenths of a second ahead of Veatch.

    The Bulldogs needed strong swims from the distance trio, Lee, West Cuthbert ’14 and Bogese, in the 500-yd freestyle to keep within striking distance of the Big Red. Cornell, however, had two touches go in their favor, leaving the Bulldogs with a 2-4-5 finish. Lee touched in 4:39.18, four tenths behind first place. Cuthbert finished in 4:44.62, less than three tenths behind third place, and Bogese finished in 4:45.37.

    “That was the nail in the coffin,” explained Veatch. “We put up a strong fight but just couldn’t do it.”

    The women had a different fate.

    They were propelled to a 187-113 victory by Molly Albrecht ’13, Hayes Hyde ’12, Athena Liao ’12, and Rachel Rosenberg ’12, who won two individual events each.

    “It’s been since the beginning of December since they’ve swum a meet,” head coach Cristina Teuscher said. “They stepped up and did really well. I’m really excited and proud of them.”

    Despite the meet’s conclusive final score, the Bulldogs were challenged in the beginning. The relay team of Cynthia Tsay ’13, Liao, Hyde, and Joan Weaver ’13 were touched-out in the 200-yd medley relay. They finished second in 1:46.38, less than three tenths off of first place.

    That initial loss was quickly remedied in the 1000-yd freestyle. Abby Nunn ’12, Angela Lee ’14 and Maggie Brown ’13 placed first, third, and fourth respectively. And the Bulldogs never looked back from there.

    They went 1-2-3 in the 200-yd freestyle. Albrecht won the event in 1:52.24 as teammates Ileana Lucos ’11 and Annie Killian ’11 finished second and third respectively.

    Tsay continued the Bulldogs’ winning streak, placing first in the 100-yd backstroke in 58.25.

    The most outstanding performances of the day belonged to Liao, who not only won two events but also broke two pool records. In the 100-yd breaststroke, Cornell sophomore Jessie Holley matched Liao stroke-for-stroke through the first two laps but could not hold on as Liao pulled ahead in the final two laps to win with a pool-record time of 1:03.94.

    No competitor came close to Liao in the 200-yd breaststroke. She took the lead from the start and won by over eight seconds with a time of 2:16.47, an NCAA B cut and pool record. The previous record was held by standout Yale swimmer Susan Kim ’10.

    “I was really excited because when I touched the wall after both my races, I didn’t expect to see those times up there [on the scoreboard],” Liao remarked elatedly. “Hopefully it’s a good sign for the rest of the season.”

    The Bulldogs had two more 1-2-3 finishes. In the 100-yd freestyle, Weaver, Erica Kao ’12 and Michelle Huang ’14 finished in 53.66, 54.14, and 54.21 respectively. And in the 500-yd freestyle, Killian, Weaver and Courtney Randolph ’14 touched in 5:09.28, 5:09.38, and 5:10.94 respectively.

    Hyde touched first in both the 200-yd butterfly and 200-yd individual medley.

    “I’m pleased,” Hyde said. “This meet was about getting into the habit of racing. Doing everything right, tactically and mentally. Everyone did really well.”

    Rosenberg also was a double winner. She won both the 1-mtr and 3-mtr diving events with scores of 275.93 and 299.03 respectively.

    The women hope to continue their winning streak next Saturday when both the men’s and women’s teams have home meets against University of Pennsylvania and Dartmouth.

    “There’s a great team atmosphere,” Teuscher said. “We need to keep the pace going and keep everyone healthy. We’ll take one meet at a time.”

  2. M. SWIMMING | Yale finishes third at Ivies

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    Perennial powers Harvard, Princeton and Yale battled it out for best in the Ivy League on Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the women’s swimming Ivy League Championships in Cambridge, Mass. Although the Elis finished in third place behind the Tigers and the Crimson — the same place Yale earned in last year’s championships — the Bulldogs were much closer this year: They tallied 1,350 points in the meet — only 88 behind Harvard and 115 behind Princeton — after having fallen to the two teams by 296 and 545.5 points, respectively, in 2009.

    Susan Kim ’10 and Alex Forrester ’13 led the Bulldogs with a combined five individual event victories and each qualified for the NCAA Championships.

    “We wanted to show [Harvard and Princeton] without a doubt that we are a better Yale team than they have ever seen, that we are here to compete and fight for the championship,” Kim said. “Everything came together this weekend. Princeton and Harvard were taking us seriously. It really was a battle.”

    The final day of the championship meet consisted of preliminaries in the morning, followed by finals in the evening. The highlight of the prelims was Kim’s dominant performance in the 200-yard breaststroke, as she smashed her own Ivy League record of 2:12.17 with a time of 2:09.38. Not only did she set meet, Ivy League and pool records, but she also earned her first ever NCAA A cut. Spots in the NCAA tournament are awarded either as A cuts, which guarantee automatic bids to the championships, or as B cuts, which mean a swimmer will be given consideration for a spot in the NCAAs.

    “Making NCAAs with A-cuts has been a goal all year,” she said. “Now I’ve got a few weeks left to improve a bit more. Alex Forrester and I want compete there, not just participate. We are certainly looking forward to representing Yale and the Ivy League at the highest levels.”

    The 1,650-yard freestyle kicked off the evening finals. Due to its length, the event is not raced during the preliminary round, and is not part of the regular dual meet season. Yalies Annie Killian ’11, Abigail Nunn ’12 and Margaret Brown ’13 placed eighth, 11th and 16th, respectively. Molly Albrecht ’13, Athena Liao ’12, Hayes Hyde ’12 and Ileana Lucos ’11 all earned NCAA B cuts in the finals, while Kim took 0.46 seconds off her record-breaking NCAA A-cut time from the morning in the 200-yard breastroke. Forrester also dropped time off her morning’s swim, finishing first in the 200-yard butterfly — her third individual event win of the meet.

    Yale proved successful on the diving front, as well. Paige Meneses ’13 earned second in the one-meter event with a score of 253.55, and Rachel Rosenberg ’12, who had won the three-meter event Friday, finished behind Meneses, in sixth.

    The Elis were already out of competition for first place heading into the last event of the championship, the 400-yard freestyle relay, but the team of Forrester, Dominski, Tsay and Joan Weaver ’13 took first with a time of 3:20.59, getting an NCAA B cut.

    The Bulldogs, who started the final day of the three-day meet in third place, could not make up enough points to catch Princeton or Harvard. Penn, who finished with only 904.5 points, was the next closest team to Yale.

    “Even though we came in third, like last year, it was a different kind of third,” said Lucos. “We were a force to be reckoned with.”

    The Bulldogs have high hopes looking ahead to next season, Hyde said.

    “Next year will be very exciting,” she said. “We only have a few seniors, whom we will miss, but the majority of the team will be returning. With a strong returning team and new recruits, we will definitely grow a lot.”

    The NCAA Championships begin March 18 at Purdue University.

  3. SWIMMING | Piecing it back together

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    The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams rebounded from their losses to Harvard and Princeton last weekend with two decisive victories against Brown on Wednesday, winning 161–137 and 191–107, respectively. The women’s team won every race in the meet, while the men won 11 out of the 16.

    The women’s A squad won the 200-yard medley relay and the Bulldogs’ momentum never dwindled. Abigail Nunn ’12 took the 1,000-yard freestyle, which was followed by a first-place finish from Joan Weaver ’13 in the 200-yard freestyle. Molly Albrecht ’13 won both the 100-yard backstroke and the 500-yard freestyle. Similarly, Monica Tung ’13 placed first in both the 200- and 100-yard butterfly.

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    Alex Forrester ’13 and Susan Kim ’10 were also in top form Wednesday. Kim proved that her loss last week in the 100-yard breaststroke — her first of the season in the event — would not be a reoccurring trend. She not only won that event, but also finished first in the 200-yard breaststroke and 200-yard IM. Forrester was victorious in both the 50-yard freestyle and 200-yard backstroke.

    Cynthia Tsay ’13 had an impressive victory in the 100-yard freestyle and the Bulldogs took first in the 400-yard freestyle relay.

    “Our number one in every event is stronger than [Brown’s] number one,” Ileana Lucos ’11 said. “We needed to win these races because that’s what will be necessary to be competitive at Ivies.”

    On the diving front, divers Paige Meneses ’13 and Rachel Rosenberg ’12 won the 1-meter and 3-meter events, respectively.

    After a heart-breaking, 0.01 second loss in the 200-yard medley relay to start the meet off, the men’s team responded with three straight victories on its way to a convincing win.

    “It’s great that the pieces of the puzzle finally came together,” Matt Lee ’11 said. “Team morale has always been high but we have lost some close meets throughout the season — it is nice to have one fall in your favor.”

    Lee took first in the 1,000-yard freestyle, which was followed by a 1-2 finish in the 200-yard freestyle from Lugar Choi ’11 and Kyle Veatch ’11, respectively. Similarly, captain Tom Robinson ’10 and Mike Dominski ’13 secured the top two places in the 100-yard backstroke.

    Choi was victorious again in the 100-yard freestyle, as was Robinson in the 200-yard backstroke. Lee and Dominski battled it out in the 500-yard freestyle for a 1-2 finish, with Lee coming out on top. Goksu Bicer ’12 picked up two wins in the 50-yard freestyle, finishing in 20.89 seconds, and 100-yard butterfly with a time of 49.40.

    On the diving boards, Drew Teer ’10 and Colton Staab ’12 went 1-2, respectively in both the 1- and 3-meter events.

    The Elis ended the day strong with a win in the 400-yard freestyle relay.

    “It’s good to have a win going into our last home meet,” Craig Steen ’11 said. “We now have the motivation we need to starting training hard in the coming weeks before Ivies.”

    Both Eli squads next face Connecticut this Saturday in their last meet before the Ivy League Championships.

  4. SWIMMING | Bulldogs to face rivals at H-Y-P

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    It’s rivalry weekend for Yale swimming.

    Both the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams head into a dual meet with undefeated rivals Harvard and Princeton this Friday and Saturday at Princeton’s DeNunzio Pool in what swimmers from both teams call an opportunity to evaluate their chances for the Ivy League title.

    “We’ve been getting ready for [this meet] pretty much the whole season,” Ileana Lucos ’11 of the women’s team said.

    The H-Y-P meet will be especially decisive for the women’s team’s standing in the conference, with all three teams currently undefeated.

    Both Yale’s and Harvard’s women’s teams are 4–0 in the Ivy League, while Princeton has won three conference meets. Yale is the only team to have competed outside of the Ivy League, defeating Southern Connecticut and Vermont but dropping a close contest to Navy by only two points last weekend.

    “This is the first time in Yale women’s swimming history that we think we have a shot at beating Harvard and Princeton,” Susan Kim ’10 said. “We’re all really fired up about it. They have some of top swimmers in the country, so this is a great opportunity for us to get out and race and see what we’re made of.”

    On the men’s side, Harvard is ranked first at 5–0 in the conference with six wins and one loss overall, while Princeton has a perfect record of 3–0 in the Ivy League. Yale trails with one win and three losses in the Ivy League but a 3–4 record overall.

    Diver Eric Olson ’11 said the men’s team was optimistic about its chances and was heading into the meet with confidence.

    Collectively, Harvard, Yale and Princeton have won every men’s Ivy League title since 1988.

    Susan Kim said the women’s team spent the past weekend focused on the upcoming meet. Almost a month into its season, the team sees this meet as a checkpoint, she said.

    Lucos said the team has spent the week focusing on the little things, like shaving time off their turns off the walls, to earn the small points that could drive Yale to victory in the event. She said this focus would help correct last weekend’s mistakes against Navy.

    The women’s team last claimed the Ivy League title in 1996, while the men’s team shared the title with the Crimson in 1993.

  5. SWIMMING | 32 seasons of living the dream

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    For Frank Keefe, coming to Yale in April 1978 to coach the swimming team was one of the happiest moments in his life.

    “It had always been a dream job,” said Keefe, 72. “The combination of academics and athletics was a true balance. Yale understood what the real student athlete was all about.”

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    Now, in his 32nd year as coach at Yale, Keefe will be retiring at the end of the current swim season after leading both the men’s and women’s teams to over 475 combined victories.

    “Four years ago I couldn’t recover physically at the end of the season,” he said. “Each year it became more difficult to get back the enthusiasm … and I feel like I’d be Brett Favre if I tried to come out of retirement again.”

    For the past couple of year, Keefe has been battling heart problems. He had two heart attacks last year, requiring him to undergo triple bypass surgery and receive a new heart valve.

    Although it will be difficult for Keefe to leave coaching, it is only fitting that he end his coaching career at Yale, just up the street from where he started swimming. Born in East Haven, Conn., Keefe swam locally and got to know Yale swimmers when he was growing up. He eventually became a college swimmer, attending Villanova and graduating in 1960. Keefe was the captain of his swim team for two years at Villanova, and his time there taught him what it means to be a student athlete, he said.

    When he got the opportunity to coach at Yale, he seized the chance to return close to home where he began swimming.

    “Since the age of 6 or 7 I was a pool rat. I was one of the kids who got to train here in high school,” he said. “When the opportunity arose to coach, I jumped at it.”

    Even with his impressive coaching record and his own swimming accomplishments, Keefe said he was proudest of his team’s academic standing, which was ranked the No. 1 Division I Academic All-American women’s swimming program in 2008. The Swimming and Diving team’s 100 percent graduation rate and current 3.6 team GPA prove Keefe’s support of the “real student athlete.” Keefe said four years of swimming is nothing compared to the 50 years Yale graduates will spend in the real world, taking the opportunities to do what makes them happy.

    “He’s very reasonable about his expectations,” breaststroker Susan Kim ’10 said. “He knows what we have going on as Yale students. He’s the first one to tell you to take the day off if you have tests.”

    According to Kim, the discipline in sports and academics that Keefe instills in his swimmers is also a direct reflection of his coaching style. He could care less for the latest technology in suits. His basic “old school” philosophy is that hard work will lead to fast swimming, Kim said.

    “At Ivies last year, [Keefe] said, ‘You have the time, mental capability, and you’ve trained enough,’” Hayes Hyde ’12 said. “‘What you need to do is believe. I don’t care if you don’t win or have the best time. I want you to have fun. If you improve or if you learn something, that’s what’s important.’”

    Yet Keefe’s emphasis on striking a balance in and out of the pool has not limited the Bulldogs’ success. In fact, he has had swimmers in the Olympics since 1968, including George Gleason ’00 and Stephen Fahy ’00 in 2000. Keefe himself was an assistant coach for the U.S. Olympic team in 1984 and head manager for the team in 1988. Keefe said there was an indescribable energy that went along with representing one’s country and having the opportunity to meet people he’d seen or read about in person.

    Although Keefe has coached on an international stage, he is proudest of his work at Yale, he said. His 32 years with the program have made him a part of the Yale swimming tradition.

    “Frank is a tradition to this team,” men’s captain Thomas Robinson ’10 said. “And when you’re with him you fell like you’re a part of a tradition at Yale swimming.”

    But it is not just current swimmers who believe that Keefe has made an indelible mark on Yale swimming.

    “He’s been another great coach in the Yale swim tradition,” former men’s captain Charles Holum ’74 said. Holum was on the search committee that interviewed Keefe when he came to Yale in 1978.

    “He’s been at Yale for a long time and been a great influence,” Holum said.

    After Keefe retires, the Department of Athletics will convene a search committee consisting of students, alumni, faculty members, staff and other head coaches to look for a new head swimming coach, Director of Athletics Tom Beckett said.

    Yale swimming will honor Keefe at the team’s last regular season home meet against UConn on Feb. 6, and again at the team’s annual banquet in April.

  6. SWIMMING: Strong start for Elis in N.Y.

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    Both men’s and women’s swimming and diving opened their seasons with strong performances in New York this past weekend, but only one of the squads left the pool victorious.

    The men’s team suffered a close 151–149 loss to Columbia on the last event of the meet, while the women dominated the Lions 199–101, winning every event until the last two.

    The men’s meet came down to the 400-yard free relay, with Yale needing to take first and third at the least in order to leave New York victorious. Columbia coach Jim Bolster settled on losing the battle in order to win the war: he split up members of his top relay squad, creating two more balanced squads capable of shutting the Bulldogs out for the second and third places. His strategy worked — although the Bulldogs won the event, the Lions placed second and third, securing their overall victory.

    “It was disappointing to lose by so few points,” diver Eric Olson ’11 said. “But this is the start of the season and only a dual meet — we play Columbia again in the Ivies and we’ll be a much better team by then.”

    Yale started out the meet strong with a one-two finish by Drew Teer ’10 and Olson in the three-meter boards, giving the Elis a commanding 15–4 lead after the first event. This lead, however, was short-lived: Columbia responded quickly with a one-three finish in the 200-yard medley relay, a win in the 200-yard freestyle, and a one-two finish in the 100-yard breaststroke. Even with Bulldog wins coming from Matt Lee ’11, captain Tom Robinson ’10 and Scott Shinton ’12 in the 1,000-yard freestyle, 100-yard backstroke and 200-yard butterfly, respectively, and a two-three finish from Lugar Choi ’11 and Kyle Veatch ’11 in the 200-yard freestyle, Columbia held a slight lead, 78–72, heading into the second diving event.

    When Columbia took first and second place in the 1-meter boards, widening their lead to 91–78, the Blue finally woke up and seized the momentum.

    “When we fell behind halfway through the meet we knew we had to make a comeback,” Olson said. “We did, and now realize that we can step it up when we need to and be competitive.”

    To start the comeback, Veatch and Choi again went two-three in the 200-yard freestyle and Robinson continued his domination with a win in the 200-yard backstroke by recording a time of 1:50.98. A pair of two-three finishes helped keep Yale in striking distance of the Lions. Lee’s win in the 500-yard freestyle, his second win of the day, coupled with Goksu Bicer’s ’12 win in the 100 -yard butterfly, gave Yale back-to-back victories that propelled them into the final event with a strong chance of overall victory. Unfortunately for the Yale, their victory in the 400-yard free relay was not enough.

    All three players interviewed said they were discouraged by the loss but acknowledged that there were certainly some positives that came from Saturday’s close contest.

    “Our last half was strong so we know we can close out a meet,” Lee said. “Now we just have to focus on staying out of the hole from the start. If we can start strong and stay strong, we will be tough to beat.”

    Despite the loss, Robinson mentioned how proud he was of the team coming together this early in the season.

    “We did considerably well considering what we had lost,” he said. “Yale had the best class of senior swimmers in the Ivy League last year, and the freshman did a great job stepping up on Saturday.”

    The women’s swimming and diving team decided their outcome long before the final event, dominated Columbia early and often and finishing with a 199-101 win. Led by senor Susan Kim ‘10 and freshman Alex Forrester ’13, the Bulldogs appeared to leave everything on the table, breaking five pool records in the process.

    “We lost to Columbia last year but this is a new team with young talent,” Kim said. “Meets with Columbia are usually exciting and close, so we wanted to come out with a fresh dynamic start.”

    The women’s diving team was especially strong, as it swept both the one-meter and three-meter. Rachel Rosenberg ’12, Lisa Andrekovich ’12 and Paige Meneses ’13 placed in the top three for both, with Rosenberg winning both events while Andrekovich and Menses each took a turn in second and third.

    The Bulldogs will travel to Boston next weekend to compete at the Terrier Invite.