The men's and women's swim-ming and diving teams returned to Providence on Dec. 30 after an abbreviated winter vacation. The Bears arrived early on campus to prepare for the Gulf Coast Winter Invitational Relay in Sarasota, Fla. Both teams fared well, with the women winning their meet and the men taking second against many non-league opponents. Despite the early return, the Brown swimmers enjoyed 10 days of sun while training in Florida.
Back in Providence, seven seniors on the women's side prepared for their final meet in the Smith Swim Center against Ivy rival University of Pennsylvania. The duel came down to the final event of the competition. The team of Eileen Robinson '06, Becky Kowalsky '07, Elizabeth Wong '06 and Ali Will '06 won the 400-meter free relay to strap down the team title, 123-120. The win improved the Bears' Ivy record to 2-2.
The men also faced off against Penn on Jan. 14. Brown created some breathing room early on and coasted to a 137.5-105.5 victory over the Quakers. The Bears won 10 events and improved their Eastern Inter-collegiate Swimming League record to 2-1.
This weekend, the men's team will travel to Cambridge to battle Ivy powerhouse Harvard. The Crimson are the reigning EISL champions and are ranked 25th nationally. The meet begins Friday at 4 p.m.
"We've prepared well for this meet," said Brian Sharkey '06. "I think everyone will put up some pretty good times."
The women will be heading to New York City for a meet against host Columbia and Cornell. That meet will be held Saturday at 3 p.m.
