W. swimming unseats Brown; men take second at Easterns

All the elements for success were there at the start of the 1999-2000 women's swimming and diving campaign. A senior class that embodied true leadership and dedication. A rising sophomore class that performed remarkably its first year. A freshman class full of talent.

In the end, this combination brought home an Ivy League Championship.

All the cylinders in the Tiger engine ran on high this past year as Princeton went on to record a perfect season (10-0, 8-0 Ivy League) and capture its first league championship since 1995.

Despite the success of the women in 1999-2000, the men's swimming and diving team once again fell short of an Ivy title this past season. The talent and depth of Princeton's main rival — Harvard — overpowered the Tigers once again, as the Crimson claimed their fifth-straight Easterns title.

Even during the early portions of their schedule, the Tiger women looked unstoppable. Victories over nationally ranked Villanova and Penn State Dec. 5 — as well as a 60-point win over Brown that same weekend — quickly revealed the squad's impressive talent and depth.

Most surprising in Princeton's success, however, was the quick learning curve of the freshman class. Led primarily by sprinter Molly Seto '03, distance freestyler Maura Bolger '03 and breaststroker Chrissy Holland '03, the group had one of the best first years in Tiger history.

"The freshmen are just incredible," captain Alyson Goodner '00 said. "They are just so mentally tough and know how to flat-out race and win, which is hard to know as a freshman."

This infusion of raw talent and energy only inspired the rest of the team to perform up to its own potential. Breaststroker Jenny Macaulay '02 and backstroker Kate Conroy '02 continued their expected dominance — frequently winning both of their individual events and putting the final nail in the coffin of Ivy League foes. The diving corps was another instrumental part of the Tigers' championship run. Emerging as the best diving team in the Ivy League, Princeton dominated the boards throughout the season. At the Ivy championships Feb. 24-26, the team accounted for 146 of Princeton's points and put five of its six divers in the finals of both the oneand three-meter events.

With all the elements of success back next year, the Tigers look destined to take home yet another title.

Falling short

Despite early season injuries and illnesses, the Princeton men were able to power their way through the first part of the season. Consistent first-place finishes from freestyler Nathan Rebuck '00, backstroker Chris Cunningham '02 and breaststroker Dan Russell '00 helped buoy Princeton to an undefeated dual meet season.

At H-Y-Ps, however, Princeton lost by 30 points to Harvard — due mostly to the depth of the Crimson freestylers. This corps came back to haunt Princeton at Easterns as well, March 2-4 — earning a majority of the top-eight finishes in two of the long distance freestyle events and sealing the Tigers' fate.

Regardless of the results at Easterns, Princeton may have found itself a star for the future — sprinter Jesse Gage '03. Despite his deceptively small frame, Gage established himself as one of the premier sprinters in the Ivy League. On top of a second-place finish in the 50-meter freestyle, he won the 100 butterfly outright and set a new pool, school and meet record with a time of 47.84 seconds.

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"Our freshman class was outstanding this season and we do have some great talented recruits coming in," freestyler Kevin Volz '02 said. "We just need to keep on training and improving and next year, we'll be ready to make another run at Harvard."