Diving helps Lions shoot down Cadets 

Susie Lee : Spectator Staff Writer 

Opening weekend was full of surprises for the men's varsity swim team. The most pleasant of which came with a fight-to-the-finish victory over the Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League (EISL) rival Army during a double dual meet at Harvard on Saturday. 

Strong performances by a core of All-American first-years, coupled with veteran experience, sparked the Lions to a 122.5-117.5 victory over the Cadets. 

"It took the seniors four years and four different pools to beat Army," Captain Louis De Leon said. 

This weekend also showed that Columbia's diving program is now a force to be reckoned with in the League. Diving events, as opposed to previous years, now help boost the Lions over opponents in dual meet competition. 

Against the Cadets, the Lions showed their mettle in the water by keeping the meet close throughout. 

"Knowing we would be behind in the first half, the team kept its poise and rallied around each other for the second half. Since our sprinters are the strength of the team, we knew we could take Army if we could hold them off until the last relay," De Leon said. 

Columbia opened the meet by posting a big win in the 400-yard medley relay (Matt Schultz, Joe Rudler, Gered Doherty, Shareef Kahleel) with a time of 3:32.48. 

Bolster emphasized the strong first-year showing this weekend , which included Schultz's impressive 52.78 split in the backstroke leg of the medley. Schultz went on to win the 200-yard back with a 1:58.11. 

Fractions of a second behind, sophomore P.J. Freuler came in a strong fourth with a time of 1:58.72. 

"[The 200 back] was an event we needed to work on. I was worried, but it's good to see we have two people we can count on," Bolster said. 

The Lions kept close to Army with Rudler's win in the 200 breast in a time of 2:11.57 and Columbia's dominance in the one and three-meter diving events. First-year Mark Fichera and sophomore Dan Brown went one-two on both boards, giving the Lions a considerable boost over the Cadets. 

"I think [our diving performance] really inspired the team to swim its hardest and keep it close," Brown said. "The diving team has improved tremendously over the past two years and we hope to expand on that." 

The Lions were boosted by a lucky break early on in the meet when Army's 200 IM swimmers were disqualified after swimming in the wrong heats. Bolster said that Army had plenty of time to make a comeback, but instead the Light Blue cranked up the heat and brought the meet down to the wire. 

Last year, the Army meet also came down to the last relay, and the Lions ran out of gas at the finish. This year the Lions' ability to capitalize on oppurtunities and step up to the challenge demonstrated their drive to win. 

Columbia brought the intensity level up a few notches and the relay of Doherty, Khaleel, Zdrilic, and Griffith won in a blazing time of 3:09.20. 

Columbia's team of Setzler, Leong, Kinnally and Schultz came in a solid third, to cushion the victory margin by two more points, pushing the Lions to a final score of 122.5 over Army's 117.5. 

On Saturday, the Lions also competed against Harvard, the defending Eastern Champions, and fell 177-65 to a team known throughout the east coast as "a cut above the rest." Saturday's overall performance showed increased intensity and a strong comeback from the team's disappointing 137-106 season opener at UMass on Friday. 

Columbia had never swam against UMass before, and the Lions found themselves unexpectedly riding in the wake of strong performances by the Minutemen. 

"We didn't know much about their team, and we weren't quite in the right frame of mind. We were at their pool, and they were fired up. We were looking forward to racing, but not ready mentally. And as result, they spanked us good," Head Coach Jim Bolster said. 

"We got off a three-hour bus ride, hopped in the pool and warmed up. And we just came out mentally flat. We didn't generate a whole lot of anything. It was a frustrating way to open the season," he added. 

Despite the final outcome, some incredible performances shed light on the Lions' talent at the top of the roster. 

Sophomore Peter Leong won the 200-yard fly in 1:59.63, Mark Fichera won both diving events by scoring 242.85 and 264.2 on the 1 and 3 meter boards respectively, and Gered Doherty secured a victory in the 100 Free with a 47.54. Bolster noted that Doherty's 47.54 was "faster than he'd gone all of last year. He really stepped it up, and that was great to see." 

Doherty said that the final eventof hte meet, the 200 free relay was "a story in and of itself." 

It didn't matter that a team victory was mathematically out of reach. 

"When we were behind the blocks, Roy [Griffith] told us he promised [Bolster] a victory and we agreed to show some Columbia pride. From that point on I knew we weren't going to lose. I knew we would swim fast, but I didn't think we'd split as well as we did," Doherty said. 

The stalwart team of first-year Joe Zdrilic, Gered Doherty, Shareef Khaleel, and senior Captain Roy Griffith not only won the 200-yard freestyle relay, but shattered a UMass pool record in the process. 

"It all came down to [the fact that] we swam faster than they did. The record was a little something extra," Doherty said. 

For Thanksgiving weekend, the Lions hope to feast on Yale at home this Friday. 

"[The Bulldogs will bring] a lot of depth-they have three good front-line people in every event. It'll be a good meet. They spanked us pretty good last year. They lost very few swimmers and had a strong recruiting class," Bolster said. "But we're very upbeat and excited about the season."