Despite a valiant effort against Columbia on Saturday, Brown could not withstand the Lions' attack, losing to Columbia 190-110. Brown had a difficult time fending off the Lions, only winning two events on the day. The wins came in the three-meter dive and in the 400-yard relay.
Each event was close and the Smith Swim Center was teeming with whoops, whistles and applause from avid Bears and Lions fans as the two went head-to-head. The 200-yard medley team comprised of Kathleyn Brandstetter '07, Emily Brush '07, Aly Wyatt '08 and Lauren Zatorski '08 kicked things off by placing in second in the relay with a time of 1:49.37, a mere second shy of the Lions.
Second-place finishes were a trend for Brown throughout the day. Becky Kowalsky '07 placed second in the 100- and 200-yard freestyles, clocking in with times of 54.23 and 1:54.88, respectively. Brush had similar performances to Kowalsky in the 100-yard and 200-yard backstroke with times of 59.02 and 2:07.42 respectively. Wyatt placed second in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:07.26, and Dana Meadow '07 rounded out the second-place finishes for Bruno in the one-meter dive with a score of 245.02.
Despite defeat, the Bears still went out with a bang in the final events. Amy Latinen '07 won the three-meter dive to bring some hope for the Bears. The 400-yard freestyle relay team, which comprised Brandstetter, Brush, Meredith Cocco '07 and Kowalsky, won the final event of the meet with a time of 3:35.87. Though both of these efforts were impressive, they were too little, too late, and the Lions prevailed.
Diving coach Guy Pollino felt that the divers' performance at the meet was satisfactory.
"The six of them (the diving team) put together a solid effort," he said. "They know what tricks they do well, and they are doing them."
He also commented about how the team needs improvement. "The divers know they need to clean up some things, like toe points and legs together - they look better," he said. "Sometimes it's better to look good than to feel good."
Diana Caskey, the Columbia coach for the past 15 years, was very proud of her Lions.
"We are working on swimming fast away from home," she said, "We never really swam really well at Brown, so I'm excited that we did the job."
Although the Bears were not victorious, they are looking forward to the remainder of the season and will be shifting most of their focus to preparations for the Ivy Championship in the next six weeks.
Underclassmen Jessica Williams '09, Baily Langner '10 and Katie Olko '10 seem to hold the most promise for the future. According to Pollino, "They are really giving the upperclassmen a run for their money."
Brown gets back in action on Feb. 15-17 when it travels to defending league champion Princeton for a pivotal dual meet.
