In the previous few meets for the men's swim team, wins have not necessarily meant stellar performances, while losses have not been that dissapointing.
With more than half of their regular season behind them, the Lions (3-4) return strong and ready for fast performances in 1999. After winter break training in Hawaii and Miami the swimmers and divers feel even stronger and ready to continue the season.
"The trip to Hawaii was a good trip for everyone," junior Gered Doherty said. "We trained real hard and got to spend some time with each other which will strengthen our team bond in the future."
The halfway point is a time of re-evaluation. After a solid first half of the season where there were many more bright spots than disappointments, the optimism for the meets to follow remains high.
On December 5th, the Lions swam against a shaven and tapered Cornell, losing only by 30 points.
For big meets, swimmers often shave their entire body to reduce drag in the water. Head coach Jim Bolster hopes that by not shaving until key matches late in the season, Columbia will have become stronger swimmers than those who were shaven the entire season.
As planned, Columbia did not shave for the Cornell meet. The athletes were pleased with their strong performance even while swimming with the disadvantage of not having shaven. "I think we gave a gutsy performance and scared Cornell in the process," first-year sprinter, Jason Adelstein said. "Being rested and shaven Cornell should have walked in and crushed us. That didn't happen at all."
Columbia swam very competitively against Cornell. "We had some of our fastest times of the season," assistant coach Mark Henderson said, "I think about 80% [of the races were] best unshaven times."
The next meet, on December 9th against Fordham, was a much tougher battle. The Lions won 132-105, but they were disappointed with their performance.
"Fordham was a difficult meet for us," Doherty said. "It was in the middle of the week and we had a lot of guys at classes or couldn't make it for some other reason. We went in there thinking we were gonna slap those guys around and they began to scare us a bit because we had some bad swims and some key swimmers were not swimming.
The December 12th loss to Princeton (119-169) was fortunately a better meet for the swimmers. In a situation that paralleled the Cornell meet, Princeton was shaved and tapered ("tapering" involves easing off practice a few days before a meet to rest.), while the Lions continued with their strategy to save their tapering for the end of the season. The Lions swam very well against the Tigers, earning several individual bests.
"Overall, I think it was good for us to race Princeton tapered because it gives us an idea where we have to be," Doherty said. "It's good to race that team anyways because they have some of the fastest swimmers in the league and they are a strong team overall. I like swimming them when they have a distinct advantage like a taper because then we know what they are going to look like at Easterns."
The Easterns (EISL Championships) meet continues to be the goal for the swimmers. All of the meets and the training trip to Hawaii are only preparations for the final meet.
The divers, who remain undefeated in their portion of the meets, spent some of the break in Miami training. The team has had very consistent performances so far this season.
"[Our meet against Princeton] showed that we can compete with the best, and win," junior Daniel Brown said. "Overall, I know all of the divers had a good feeling about the first half of the semester. As a team, we are undefeated, and I hope that streak lasts through the next semester."
Both Brown and sophomore Mark Fichera have already qualified for the NCAA Zone meet in March. The strength of the team promises more good and consistent results for the rest of the season.
Next weekend the swimmers and divers look forward to their meet at Dartmouth.