Tough time at Cornell for men's swimming 

Susie Lee : Spectator Staff Writer 
Spectator Associate Sports Editor  

Things have been known to freeze up in Ithaca. Last Saturday, however, Cornell's Big Red was red hot as they defeated Columbia's men's swimming team 160-135, dropping its record to 1-4 on the season. 

Coming off a tremendous meet at home against Yale last weekend, Columbia was fired up to face Cornell. Prior to the trip up to Cornell, Head Coach Jim Bolster expressed anxiety about encountering trouble on the road. The Big Red had a strong home advantage as well as an unflinching level of intensity in and out of the pool that Bolster feared could hurt the Lions. 

"It was a long, frustrating day, and we didn't get the performance we were capable of," Bolster said. "Of course our expectations were to go in there and win, and [the loss] was disappointing. We felt ready, but we didn't have enough left in the tank." 

Cornell put a damper on an incredibly positive start to Columbia's '97-98 campaign. 

"[This year] the guys have a really good attitude and good spirit. If we continue to work hard, we have the makings of a really good season," Bolster said. 

The composition and character of a team can be judged by how its opponents anticipate the upcoming meet. If Cornell considered Columbia a poor or mediocre team, the Big Red might have approached the meet with nonchalance, which is what they did for their home opener against Pennsylvania. 

This attitude was clearly not the case last Saturday, as Cornell proved to be scared even before Columbia entered the pool to warm-up. 

The Big Red showed their fear of the Lions by shaving their sprinters. Usually a team doesn't shave until Easterns, or, from time to time, for a big meet. 

"The Cornell team shaved and tapered some of their swimmers, and that really revealed their anxiety about Columbia," sophomore Daniel Brown said. The EISL League has taken notice of the Lions' steady climb, and Cornell was no exception. 

The meet opened with the 200-yard medley relay, in which Columbia swam a 135.05, and was touched out by Cornell at 1:35.00. Columbia encountered a bit of bad luck, as its backstroker slipped at the start, costing precious ticks of the clock. Losing first place by five hundredths wounded the Lions' morale from the start. 

"The morale on the team became very low after the first two events, and we were never [able to] recover," senior freestyler Mike McCosker said. 

Cornell followed the victory in the medley relay by clinching first and second in the 1000 freestyle. 

McCosker led the Lions by taking first place in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 145.5, and later won the 500-free in 4:44.00. 

First-year Mark Fichera continued to display his diving dominance by adding two more victories to his impressive winning streak. 

Fichera took first in both the one and three-meter springboard events, while Daniel Brown came in third on the three-meter and second on the one-meter. 

Sophomore Peter Leong took first in the 200-yard fly in 1:53.9, and was .1 of a second shy of first in the 100 fly (52.20). 

"We were the first real test for Cornell this season. They were up for it, and we couldn't quite meet their level." Bolster said. "It looks like we swim better at home. So we hope to rebound with a win against Fordham at home, and go from there."