Bulldog swimmers reflect on a seasonnge

By Patrick McGarvey

Last weekend, five years of dominance ended for the Elis at the Ivy League Championships in Cambridge, Mass. After winning four Ivy titles in five years, the women swam to a fourth place finish, behind Brown, Princeton, and Harvard. Although it was not their usual success, it was enough to earn head coach Frank Keefe Coach of the Year honors for the third time in the '90s.

Keefe didn't dwell on the overall finish or the title, but pointed out the strong individual times. "I am very happy with everyone's performances," he said. "A strong senior class led the way the entire year and many of them peaked with their lifetime best times at the championships."

For the first time in Keefe's memory, every Yale swimmer scored for the team. Malindi Davies, ES '98, was the only Bulldog to capture an Ivy title, winning the 100m breaststroke in a personal-best time of 1:03.66. Kate Hitchner, PC '98, and Danielle Mailloux, JE '98, also set personal marks in their events. Hitchner was second in the 200m backstroke (2:01.27) and Mailloux was second in the 500m freestyle (4:53.47).

Julia Tiernan/YH SINK OR SWIM: The women's swimming team finished fourth at the Ivy League Championships last weekend, despite several outstanding individual performances

Despite the strong individual performances, fourth-place still stung. Yale has been among the best swimming teams in the Ivy League for years. Entering the final meet, the Bulldogs maintained a 10-3 record that included narrow losses to Harvard, Brown, and Northeastern. The championship was just as tight, and Yale was in a third-place tie with Harvard entering the final event, the 400m individual medley. Unfortunately, the Crimson won the race and third place, finishing four points ahead of Yale.

Adding to the disappoinment for the Blue was the knowledge that a change in the way the Ivy champion is determined may have cost the team another title. Rather than awarding the championship to the squad that accrued the most points through wins and losses in dual meet competition, the Ivy crown now goes to the winner of an Ivy Championship meet at the end of the season. "It [the championship meet] wasn't as exciting as years past where one [dual] meet would decide the champion," team captain Janae Deverell, MC '98, said.

Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, the new format favors teams with deep rosters over teams with consistent in-season performance. This definitely hurt the Bulldogs's chances, but it elevated a team like Brown. The Bears were undoubtedly a very talented team, but their depth allowed them to dominate the championships far more dramatically than a dual meet would have allowed. Each swimmer was allowed to enter three events, and points were awarded to the top sixteen finishers. Brown, which scored points from every swimmer in every event, earned an impressive 807.5 points; 120 more than second-place Princeton.

The change in the competitive format received mixed reviews from the swimmers. While most were satisfied with their performances in the final meet, they felt that the new format altered the focus of their season too drastically. "It really changed the focus of the season," Danielle Mailloux, JE '98, said. "The only reason for the dual meets was to build confidence against the oppostion. They were stepping stones to the final meet." Certainly the change helped the swimmers achieve the best scores of their lives by focusing their training and effort into a single championship meet.

Despite the fourth-place finish, each senior, after competing for the last time, can truly be satisfied--every senior swimmer had career-best performances. "It's outstanding to see that the seniors are still improving," said Keefe. "To see that they still have the love for the sport and are still working to improve is amazing." But in this season of change, it just was not enough for a championship.

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