JULIA TIERNAN/YH The Eli men look to continue their winning ways at the upcoming ECAC and EISL championships.

Swimmers hope to be as golden as Mark Spitz

After disappointing losses at the Harvard-Yale-Princeton meet two weeks ago, Yale swimming is looking to bounce back at the season-ending championships. Most of the women's team will go to Harvard on Thurs., Feb. 24 for the Ivy League championships, while some of the women are off to the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) championship. The men's Eastern Intercolle-giate Swimming League (EISL) championships begin on Thurs., Mar. 2. Both the men and women have tapered and are ready for their seasons' final races.

The male swimmers who did not qualify for the EISLs will compete at ECACs instead. Not only is this the final meet of the regular season, but it is the last opportunity for the swimmers to qualify for the NCAA championships. For the seniors, this is the end of Yale competition.

The women's team is finishing off a strong season, led by Captain Lindsey Wolter, BK '00. Wolter is the returning Ivy champion in the 200-meter backstroke and is looking for another win this weekend. She also qualified for NCAAs last year in that event. Aggressive finishes in all the freestyle sprint distances have helped to propel the Bulldogs to victory—Ilene Solomon, ES '02, placed second overall in the 50-meter freestyle last year, followed closely by Emily Grant, DC '02. Grant is ranked second in the Ivies this year in both the 50- and the 100-meter freestyle races.

Swimming

Record: Women 6-4-1, Men 10-2 Coming Up: Women at Ivy Championships, Thurs., Feb. 24; women at ECAC Championships, Thurs., Feb. 24; men at ECAC Championships, Thurs., Feb. 24.

A few of the female swimmers will not join the rest of the team at Harvard for the Ivy championships, but will instead go to the co-ed ECACs for another shot at strong swims. "We've been working very hard all year," Grant said of the women's prospects. "We're really dedicated and we hope to swim well." Lisa Sweet, MC '00, and Shannon Mulcahy, SM '00, in the final meet of their Eli careers, are two of the swimmers looking to finish their seasons strong.

The divers will also hope to rack up the points with outstanding performances. Shannon Dunlap, BR '01, and Lydia Gregory, BR '03, have remained solid all season, and next year's team will benefit from their experience. At the Brown dual meet on Fri., Feb. 11, Gregory set school records in both the one-meter and three-meter springboard events.

Yale's male swimmers are wrapping up one of their strongest seasons in recent memory. The team is currently in third place in the EISL, but is optimistic for next week's championships. "It's going to be a battle with Princeton, Harvard, and Brown," Mike Schulte, CC '02, said. "Harvard especially, since they're swimming really fast, but we're all swimming really well too."

The men's team has both speed and versatility. The Elis' raw strength in the 200-meter events is particularly unbreakable. Stephen Fahy, MC '00, is ranked first in the league in the 200-meter individual medley, and George Gleason, CC '01, is ranked second in the 200-meter freestyle. Captain Mike Caperonis, CC '00, broke the Yale record in the 200-meter butterfly this year. In the distance events, Yale also has a strong advantage over the competition. Schulte is a top-seed in the 1,650-meter event, and will compete at Eastern finals with fellow distance swimmers Dan Schinnerer, BK '01, Geoff Lutz, ES '02, and Greg Palumbo, TC '03.

Several Eli swimmers are also close to qualifying for NCAAs. Fahy, Gleason, Schulte, and Palumbo are right on the edge, but they will not know until after EISLs.

Schulte attributes much of the team's success to the leadership and drive of the seniors. "We've all been focused, and the seniors have done really well," he said. "There are some great leaders."

The Bulldogs have a top-heavy championship team, as seven male and four female seniors will compete at EICLs and Ivies, respectively. This extensive store of leadership, combined with the strength of both teams, should contribute to some personal bests and great team finishes. "Over the last two years it's been entirely different," Fahy said. "It's been great to be competitive, and there's been a big turnaround. We work very hard, and [the team] is a great group of guys."

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