Backed by strong freshmen, women top Harvard for second place in HYPs.

BY SAM WEBB

With a win against Harvard and an impressive showing against a very deep Princeton team this past weekend, Yale women's swimming has shown itself a legitimate contender for the Ivy League Championship later this month. The 168.5-150.5 victory over Har-vard was the first for the Yale women since 1997—and the first for anyone on the team. The Bulldogs kept close to Princeton, which outnumbered Yale by 10 swimmers, losing 196.5-120.5.

JULIA TIERNAN/YH

Several individuals turned in top performances. Susan Cooke, BK '03, one of the most consistently strong swimmers on the team, took first in the 400-meter IM and second in the 200-meter intermediate level. Meredith Bryarly, BR '01, and Paige Harazin, ES '04, dominated the 100- and 50-meter freestyles, with Bryarly winning and Harazin finishing just behind her teammate in both races. Coach Tim Wise emphasized the significance of their performances. "To go one-two in both the 50 and 100 against such tough competition speaks volumes about the talent that Paige and Meredith possess," he said. Yale talent didn't win the day, but the Elis came close with several outstanding performances. Harazin took second in the 200-meter freestyle; Heidi Kraus, SM '03, finished a strong second in the 1,000-meter freestyle; diving followed the trend as Shannon Dunlap, BR '03, dove to second place in both the one- and three-meter events. Bates Gregory, BR '03, took fourth in the one-meter and fifth in the three-meter. Yale also dominated the 500-meter freestyle, as Catey Bradford, ES '03, finished second, Heidi Kraus third, and Laura O'Brien, PC '04, fourth. Yale closed out the meet with a convincing victory in the 400-freestyle relay of Harazin, Bryarly, Emily Fain, DC '02, and Captain Laura Schned, BK '01.

The victory gave the team momentum going into the homestretch of the season, according to Wise. "It's the way we wanted to go out. It sends the right message heading into the Ivy Championships in a few weeks," he said. Yale's performance at HYP's is representative of the team's consistent success. Although Yale suffered the first loss of the season to Princeton, the team's record still stands at an impressive 10-1 overall, 5-1 Ivy. Fain described the team as "the best team we've had since I've been at Yale."

This distinction stems primarily from a very talented freshman class and a renewed sense of team confidence. Yale's close victory over Harvard is a prime example of the team's physical and mental strength. According to Bryarly, "We didn't finish strong in our close meets with Harvard in years past, but this year we were able to stay focused mentally and get the win." However, the team's confidence is perhaps the most integral component of Yale's victories this season."The confidence that comes with winning feeds off of itself. Our success this season gives us momentum going into every meet, which is something that we have lacked in the past," Schned said.

With its continued success, Yale women's swimming has a great deal of momentum going into the final home meet of the season against conference powerhouse Brown on Fri., Feb. 9, which should carry over into the Ivy Championships at Princeton on Thurs., Feb. 22. Most of Princeton's margin of victory over Yale came from having more swimmers in each race, not more talent. The scoring at the Ivy Championships differs from dual meet scoring by emphasizing individual performance over sheer numbers. Schned pointed to the different scoring method at the Ivy Championships as "an equalizer" between Yale and Princeton. However, Brown and the Ivies will demand near-flawless efforts.

The Bulldogs are ready to work when it counts. In recent years, the tight meets between Harvard and Yale had gone to Harvard, but Yale reversed that trend by doing what great teams do: winning the close ones.

Fain put the significance of beating Harvard into perspective: "It was a big win for the upperclassmen. We've never beaten Harvard during our time at Yale. But we made winning against Harvard one of our preseason goals, and we knew we had a team that could beat them." Photo by Julia Tiernan.

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