Tapered Penn races past men's swimming 

Susie Lee : Spectator Staff Writer 

On paper, the Columbia men's swimming team and Penn are so close it's impossible to dub one stronger, faster, or better. The Lions' meet against Penn on the road last Saturday should have, consequently, been a competitive affair. 

But the Quakers decided to shave and taper a good portion of their team,-a factor that gave a sizeable advantage to Penn and helped contribute to the Lions' disappointing 131-108 loss. Penn's victory dropped the Light Blue record to 3-6 on the season. 

"We swam well, but Penn being shaved and tapered [had] an edge," sophomore sprinter Gered Doherty said. "I think we are all just itching for a fair meet, which we'll get at Easterns. Then, the outcome will be a bit different." 

Head Coach Jim Bolster said that we could have won the meet despite Penn's shaving. 

"The meet was there for us to win, and we didn't take advantage," Bolster said, "so it was a disappointment... but we define ourselves by how we handle setbacks." 

The Lions have one ultimate goal each season, and that is Eastern Championships. While winning dual meets are important, final success or failure is measured by standings at Easterns. Everyone is shaved and tapered at this event, and on a level playing field, true winners will be crowned. 

"It's very frustrating. I think a great and exciting dual meet is destroyed when they decide to shave," Bolster said. "But the dual meet record is not the focus of our season. Our season is decided on how we do at Easterns. And I am not willing to sacrifice Championships for a dual meet win. It's not necessary to shave anyone [for a dual meet]. And that's not how I would want to win." 

Expressing his views on the nature of real competition, Bolster said, "I want to see my kids go head to head... and have them battle it out in the pool. I want to beat someone straight up. I want my kids to work hard, and beat someone because of their work ethic and attitude [not because of an advantage such as shaving]." 

The Lions have had trouble on the road all year, and last Saturday at Penn was no exception. 

"As a team we have not been able to respond well to being on the road. And it showed in a lot of races. Lots of our kids went a second, or a second and a half slower than [the times] they are capable of, and that's enough to cost us," Bolster said. 

Regarding difficulties against the Quakers, senior Tri-Captain Matt Gilman said, "Penn is always a big rivalry and we really wanted to win, but traveling to Philly for their last home meet is a hard place to get the victory." 

Despite the overall frustration about the conditions of competition, Columbia came through with some impressive victories. 

"We did have some great performances and lifetime bests from a few swimmers... So overall the meet was not a disaster," Gilman said. 

Columbia showed its sprinting prowess by going one-two in the 50 yard freestyle. Sophomore Gered Doherty tied his personal best and clinched first place in 21.23, and senior Tri-Captain Roy Griffith kept Penn in his wake, as he claimed second with a 21.34. 

Sophomore Peter Leong swam a 1:54.97 to take first place in the 200 yard butterfly. Leong's consistency in this event has made him nearly undefeated this year. He has dominated EISL rivals Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Dartmouth, Princeton and Penn. His only second place finish was by .33 of a second against Army. 

Drama unfolded in the 500 freestyle. Senior Mike McCosker jumped the gun and was disqualified on account of a false start. Penn held the top three spots for the first half of the race, but Columbia's Gilman (4:47.1) and McCosker fought back to finish first and second respectively. Though McCosker's finish did not count, his performance was a boost to the team. 

"It was a great nail-biting race, which hushed the annoying Penn crowd for a while," Doherty said. 

The divers added yet another triumph to their season-long success. 

"Mark [Fichera] and I dove well against a tough competitor, Kyle Goldbacher. He is an excellent diver and finaled at Easterns last year," sophomore Daniel Brown said. In a tight one meter competition, Brown fell to Goldbacher by half a point, and Fichera took third. 

"[We] were determined to step it up on three meter," Brown said. "And we went one-two against Kyle and the rest of the Penn diving squad." 

Fichera's first place on the three meter marks his 13th win of the season. 

The defining event for the Lions was the finale, the 400 yard freestyle relay. By this point in the meet, a win was mathematically impossible. 

"[We] waited behind the blocks before the start, and decided to race for 'Lion pride'," Doherty said. 

The Lions won in a blazing time of 3:09.71. First-year Joe Zdrilic lead off, followed by senior Roy Griffith. Junior Sharif Khaleel went head-to-head with Penn, and sophomore Gered Doherty anchored the relay with a blazing 45.7 split that put the Quakers away.