It's...PRINCETON!

The Princeton Tigers...your 2006-07 Ivy League Women's Swimming Champions!

Not only did Princeton win the dual meet regular season title with a perfect record, but they also capped off the undefeated Ivy League season by winning the Frank Keefe Trophy, designated for the Ivy League Champ, in front of the home crowd at DeNunzio Pool.

Princeton also had the distinction of having both the Most Outstanding Swimmer and Most Outstanding Diver in Alicia Aemisegger ('10) and Katie Giarra ('09), respectively.

The final rankings were as follows:

1. Princeton - 1,496
2. Harvard - 1,408 1/2
3. Yale - 1,122
4. Penn - 1,073
5. Columbia - 925
6. Brown - 811
7. Dartmouth - 634
8. Cornell - 339 1/2

Congratulations to all participants and thanks for everyone who assisted in making this meet a terrific success.

We'll see you in 2008!

Worldwide Ivies

From the start of the meet to the end of the meet, folks from these nations were following the action online:

Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Egypt, South Africa, France, Germany, Bulgaria, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, China, India, Saudi Arabia, Japan and Australia.

Yale Sprints to Victory in the 400 Free Relay

In the final event of the competition, the Yale Relay team of Jane Kim ('10), Alexis Mann ('09), Moira McCloskey ('10), and anchor Meg Gill ('07) outswam strong contingents from other schools to take the 400 Yard Freestyle Relay.

The team's time of 3:23.16 was the 4th fastest time in history. It was a dramatic finish to a record breaking meet.

Congratulations ladies on a fantastic swim!

It's Giarra in the 3m

Katie Giarra ('09, Princeton) laid down the gauntlet on her final dive in the 3m competition to seal a second diving victory in the 2007 Ivy League Women's Swimming Championship.

Giarra, by virtue of her preliminary score was given the honor of diving last. She knew the mark that she had to make in order to take home the crown. The stage was hers and when it came time for her to perform, she did just that. Her 335.95 allowed for a comfortable win over fellow teammate Michelle DeMond ('07) in an event that saw Princeton take 1st, 2nd and 4th places.

Encore: Aemisegger Takes the Treble

An All-Points Bulletin needs to go out to Cristina Teuscher:

"Cristina, your records are not safe."

And you can thank Alicia Aemisegger again for that. Aemisegger broke through the field again in an Ivy Meet Record* time in the 200 Yard Breaststroke. Her time of 2:14.19, although not an Ivy Record [Jackie Pangilinan - 2:13.90, Harvard 2005], was good enough to rewrite both the Meet and Pool Records for the event.

Both were previously held by the aforementioned Teuscher in her record setting swim in 1999.

* The All-time meet record is held by Gabriella Csepe ('92, American) with a time of 2:13.95.

DiFazio takes the 100 Free

Upon the strength of strong Princeton showing in the 100 Yard Freestyle "A" Final, the championship may now be out of reach.

Princeton was lead by Sobenna George and 100 Freestyle champion, Justina DiFazio, took a large chunk of the points for the event, and were aided by the absence of Harvard competition in the "A" Final.

If nothing else, it certainly has given the Tigers a decent cushion with only a few competitions left to be decided.

Hart Spoils McCloskey 3-peat; Sets Meet Mark

Lindsay Hart (Harvard, '09) swam to victory in the 200 Backstroke in a meet record time of 1:58.58. In the process, she spoiled a bid by Yale senior Moira McCloskey to become a 3-time champion in the event.

Clarke Tops the Field in the 1650

Alexandra Clarke ('10) has inched Harvard even closer to Princeton atop the leaderboard with her victory in the 1650 Freestyle. Her time of 16:19.67 was a full 10 seconds faster than her closest competitor.

With the Clarke win, it is now officially a two-team race between Harvard and Princeton for the title.

Thank You Seniors

The Ivy League would like to recognize all senior members of each Women's Swimming team for their time and dedication to make the Ivy League great. A special dedication took place prior to the 1650 Freestyle Championship.

Brown

Kathelyn Brandstetter, Emily Brush, Meredith Cocco, Sarah Demers, Lauren Harlow, Becky Kowalsky, Amy Latinen, Julie Lippe-Klein, Lindsay McKenna, Dana Meadow, Molly Meadows, Ashley Wallace

Columbia

Kaki Dudley, Sarah Fisher, Kelly McConnell, Mary McCue, Lauren Morford, April Nizlek, Kathryn Taylor

Cornell

Caitlin Burrows, Kristin Conway, Sabrina Kwauk, Rebecca Nolan

Dartmouth

Melissa Kern, Allie Owens, Lizzie Rippe

Harvard

Noelle Bassi, Kelly Blondin, Staci Blondin, LeeAnn Chang, Kyle Cutter, Jessica Davidson, Annika Giesbrecht, Kara O'Reilly, Rachel Walker, Laurin Weisenthal, Emily Wilson

Penn

Alison Bretherick, Stephanie Colson, Sarah Jeffers, Laine Litman, Kate McArdle, Margot Newcomer, Janis Scanlon, Cameron Villareal, Hayley Wolfgruber

Princeton

Kristen Arey, Jeannie Campbell-Urban, Michelle Demond, Sobenna George, Kelly Hannigan, Nikki Laffel, Erica Pang, Emma Tapscott, Emily Weigan, Sandy Zaeh

Yale

Liz Berger, Chase Butler, Liz Fogelsong, Meg Gill, Ashley Kochanek, Moira McCloskey, Tory Nelson

Thank you for everything that you have done in your collegiate career, and thank you for letting us be a part of it.

Best wishes in all that you do.

Day 3 Teaser: Things to Watch

Top stories to check out for the third and final day of competition.

1. Standings...

a. Will Princeton hold off Harvard's challenge for the overall title?
b. Will schools manuever up and down the leaderboard?

2. Repeat Champions...

a. Will Moira McCloskey (Yale, '09) win her 3rd consecutive 200 Backstroke title?
b. Will Alicia Aemisegger (Princeton, '10) continue her winning ways as she battles in the 200 Breaststroke?
c. Will Katie Giarra (Princeton, '09) turn the double in the 3m Diving competition?
d. Will somebody come through and spoil the party?

3. Run at the Records...

a. Will the 400 Freestyle Relay record fall?
b. Is another longstanding Christina Teuscher — 1996 Olympic Gold Medalist — record in jeopardy?

4. Global Attention...

a. Can Idaho, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma and the Dakotas join the other 42 states who have visited this blog?
b. Will more foreign lands join Canada, Bulgaria, China, Egypt, India, Mexico, France, Saudi Arabia, Germany and South Africa as visitors?
c. Can the number of page views during the three-day championship exceed 20,000?

Get Ready for a Furious Finish

As the scores final scores from Day 2 indicate, each overall place in 06/07 Women's Ivies team race is up for grabs.

With every point absolutely vital, expect a furious finish to the competition. The Swimmer of the Meet and the Diver of the Meet races are also wide open. Today will answer all of the questions, but one thing is for sure...there will not be a dull moment.

Swim fast, ladies. Swim fast.

Day 2 Completed

At the conclusion of the second day of competition, the team scores are as follows:

Princeton continues to lead the overall competition...but Harvard has closed the gap considerably...

1. Princeton - 1,002
2. Harvard - 929 1/2
3. Yale - 770
4. Penn - 700
5. Columbia - 590
6. Brown - 556
7. Dartmouth - 441 1/2
8. Cornell - 243

We'll see you tomorrow.

DiFazio Defends Title in 200 Free

Justina DiFazio (Princeton, '09) successfully defended her title in the 200 Freestyle by outlasting a strong effort from freshman Jane Kim of Yale.

Only a sophomore, DiFazio is on pace to be the first 4-time champion in the 200 Free in Ivy League history. Expect her to be pushed all the way, however, as Yale, Pennsylvania and Columbia all have strong young contingents in the event. This is sure to be one to watch in the future.

DiFazio was presented her winning medal by Harvard alumnus, Pia Chock.

McCloskey Successfully Defends

Moira McCloskey (Yale, '09) has joined to ranks of storied repeat champions as she turned away the competition to keep her 2005-06 title for 2006-07. McCloskey staved off a challenge from Lindsay Hart of Harvard ('09) to retain her title, while lowering her winning time from 56.34 in the 2006 Women's Ivies to 55.62.

Congratulations Moira on a well deserved 2nd consecutive championship swim.

Simply AMAZINGger!!

She did it again.

When records fall, it is always a special thing to watch. When records are completely obliterated, the feat is nothing short of amazing.

And that, in a nutshell, is Alicia Aemisegger ('10, Princeton). Aemisegger electrified the home crowd with as dominating of a performance as any in the history of the Women's swimming competition. Not only did Aemisigger annihilate the Meet record by almost 15 seconds, she also destroyed her own Ivy and Pool record of 9:47.14 by unloading a blistering 9:37.55.

It should also be noted that fellow freshman, Alexandra Clarke (Harvard, '10) also bested the meet record with her swim. Unfortunately for her, on this night, nobody was going to catch Aemisigger. She was simply amazing.

Visitor News

So far, this blog has gotten nearly 7,000 page views between the start of the Championship on Thursday and the end of the daytime session today. It has had visitors from 39 states and the nation's capital.

If you want to direct someone from the missing states of Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina and the Dakotas to the Psyche Sheet, be our guest!

Live Streaming By Princeton

Don’t miss your chance to catch the 2007 Ivy League Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships live on GoPrincetonTigers.com! Click here to sign up today!

Roll Call: Day 2

Live from DeNunzio Pool in Princeton, N.J.: Welcome to Day 2 of Women's Ivies.

The ladies are in the pool right now for warm up sessions. The preliminaries are set to begin at 11 am. Will there be continued success for the first place Princeton Tigers? Will Harvard or Yale charge to the top? Will surprises abound on the leaderboard? Will records continue to fall, left and right?

We'll soon find out.

The First Day Is Complete

And the scores are in...

1. Princeton - 497
2. Harvard - 358
3. Yale - 356.50
4. Penn - 284
5. Brown - 246
6. Dartmouth - 198.50
7. Columbia - 180
8. Cornell - 112

We'll see you tomorrow for Day 2.

Harvard Foursome Smashes 400 Medley Mark!

The Harvard Women's 400 Yard Medley Relay ended a night of records with arguably the most impressive one.

Led by a junior contingent of speedsters, the ladies brought down DeNunzio Pool in an electrifying 3:43.33 Meet and Ivy Record.

As far as records go, Lindsay Hart, Jaclyn Pangilinan, Bridget O'Connor and Amanda Slaight destroyed the existing mark by 1.4 seconds.

If the first day of competition is any inclination, this could be a meet where no existing record is safe.

Congratulations Harvard on a most impressive display.

Giarra Ups the Mark in the 1m

As we hinted to after the preliminaries, the new Women's Ivy Diving Record would once again be in jeopardy during the night competition.

This buzz gained steam as the championship round began and it became evident with each passing round that the record would inevitably fall, the only question being by how much. Well Katie Giarra ('09, Princeton) answered that inquiry with an impressive 307.00, almost a full 26 points more than the existing Meet and Ivy League records on the books at the start of the day.

The diving competition was billed as a battle between Giarra (center) and her closest rival, Samantha Papadakis of Harvard. With the preliminary round setting the stage for a close championship, this was supposed to be a back and forth diving dual to the very end.

Giarra didn't get the memo.

Her exceptional display on the boards left little doubt on this night.

Congratulations on a new Meet and Ivy record, Katie!

Freshman Owns New Meet Record in 500 Free!

In a massive story, Princeton freshman Alicia Aemisegger has done seemingly the impossible: dethroning Christina Teuscher — a 1996 Olympic Gold Medalist — atop the Meet record books in the 500 Individual Freestyle.

"I absolutely know who she [Teuscher] is. I actually met her once through my coach from home. It is a great honor to have broken one of her records", Aemisegger said.

Aemisegger's preliminary swim set the stage for a memorable swim in the finals. Riding the enthusiasm of the home crowd, Aemisegger jumped out to an early lead that she never relinquished. Her time of 4:43.50 shaved off nearly five full seconds from her preliminary time.

More importantly, she now owns a meet record that has been in existence since 1998.

She is joined in the picture by Greg Wriede, former NCAA All-American at Harvard and the current coach of the Peddie School in Hightstown, N.J., who presented her with her championship medal.

Congratulations Alicia!

Dual-Meet Trophy Presentation

Ladies and gentlemen,

Before we get into tonight's action, the Ivy League would like to make a special presentation. As is the case every year, the Ivy League champion will be crowned at the end of Saturday's session, and we will award the Frank Keefe Trophy, symbol of that championship.

During the regular season, however, the eight schools of the Ivy League compete intensely in a dual-meet season that begins in November and concludes in early February. It is the League's honor present this year's dual-meet winner with a trophy to recognize this very significant accomplishment.

With an undefeated 7-0 dual-meet record, the 2006-07 version of the trophy was awarded to the Princeton Tigers.

Congratulations to Princeton on a tremendous dual-meet season.

The Women's Ivies Go Global

On the first day of preliminary action, we at the Ivy League are proud to report that the Psyche Sheet has already reached 1,700 page views from 31 individual states, the District of Columbia, and six countries.

Therefore we would like to extend a welcome greeting to all of our friends across the country, and those in Canada, Bulgaria, Egypt, France, India and Mexico.

Feel free to say hello by posting a comment and let us know exactly where you are checking in from, and the Ivy colors and individual athletes that you are supporting.

The ladies are currently warming up for the final events that will kick off at 6 pm Eastern. Results will follow soon after.

Ivy 1m Diving Record Falls!

Katie Giarra ('09, Princeton) took it upon herself to re-write the record books at the Women's Ivy League Swimming Championships today during the preliminaries.

Giarra was pushed by Samantha Papadakis ('08, Harvard) throughout the preliminary competition and laid the foundation for an intriguing championship round of diving.

Both ladies bested the existing mark of 281.05 by Bates Gregory (Yale '01).

Katie Giarra, 291.50
Samantha Papadakis, 289.90

Will the championship finals produce another record? Stay tuned to find out.

Making Waves

Alicia Aemisegger took up swimming as a third grader mainly for the social benefits of being on a team. "I was eight and I just moved into a new town and my mother wanted me to swim to make friends," recalled Aemisegger. "At the time I could barely finish a lap. I still had so much fun, I got really close to my teammates."

Coming under the tutelage of legendary Germantown Academy swim coach Dick Shoulberg in fifth grade, Aemisegger blossomed, transforming herself into a swimmer who was soon lapping the competition. Aemisegger qualified for the U.S. nationals as a freshman at Germantown and a year later came within .03 seconds of earning a spot on the U.S. national team in the 400 individual medley.

Deciding to come to Princeton University this past fall rather than to perennial swimming power U.S.C., Aemisegger has made waves for the Tigers right from the start, setting program records in the 400 IM, 200 butterfly, and 1000 freestyle in her first few meets.

This weekend, Aemisegger will aim to add some more titles to her resume as the Tigers host the Ivy League championships, which begin Thursday at DeNunzio Pool. As she looks forward to her Ivy championship debut, Aemisegger said the bond she has developed with her new teammates has been a key factor as she has rewritten the program's record book.

"We're family; it's so nice, I can't imagine a better group," said Aemisegger, who is ranked third in the U.S. in the 400 IM and will be competing in the World University games later this year as she continues her drive to earn a spot on the U.S. team for the 2008 Summer Olympics. "Everybody is so understanding and supportive of what I'm doing. I love it; it makes you want to do better for the team."

For the full story by Bill Alden of Town Topics, please click here.

Men's Psyche Sheet Posted!

Rick Osterberg has posted the psyche sheets for the EISL Men's Championship at Princeton's DeNunzio Pool on his website. To see the ranked lists, please click here.

Previewing the Women's Championship

This written preview will appear in the printed event program this weekend. It's provided here as a bonus for "psychesheet" readers:

DeNunzio Pool is going to get itself a workout in fast swims and bouncing diving boards these next two weekends. First, it’s the Ivy women who invade as Princeton looks to defend its Ivy championship. A week from now, the men of the Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League — that’s the eight Ivies, plus Navy — will be in the house for three more days of top-notch Division I competition.

The Princeton women have made standing atop the victory stand a commonplace occurrence in recent years, winning six of the last seven Ivy titles. With a perfect 7-0 record in dual meets, the Tigers will be a force this weekend in their home pool. Head coach Susan Teeter’s women will be presented the dual-meet trophy in a special ceremony before Thursday evening’s finals. Ellen Gray won two golds at last year’s championship at Harvard with victories in the 1,000 and 1,650 freestyles. She will be pushed by her freshman teammate, Alicia Aemisegger.

Harvard looks to regain the form that took the team to the Ivy championship the last time the event was here in Princeton (2005). “As far as the season goes, considering the number of injuries and illnesses that we were dealing with, the team raced well,” said head coach Stephanie Wriede Morawski, “I admire their tenacity.” Any discussion of Harvard swimming begins with senior Noelle Bassi, who returns to her home state as the 2006 Swimmer of the Meet at Ivies. Bassi set a meet and League record last year with a 1:58.01 in the 200 fly. It was the only meet record established in ’06. Diver Samantha Papadakis won silver last year in both the 1- and 3-meter competitions.

The Frank Keefe Trophy, symbol of the Ivy championship, goes to the winning team at this weekend’s competition. The League is fortunate that the man for whom the trophy is named still coaches the Yale women’s and men’s programs. Coach Keefe will look to backstroker Moira McCloskey for more memorable Ivy performances. Last year, she was the gold medalist in both the 100 and 200 backstrokes. McCloskey should feel at home here in DeNunzio — she won the 100 back and was second in the 200 at the H-Y-P meet a couple of weeks ago.

Penn head coach Mike Schnur is proud of his team’s second straight winning dual-meet season in the Ivy League. “The Ivy League championship meet is a tremendous opportunity to compete against some of the finest student-athletes in the country,” Schnur said. “We are looking forward to the challenge.” Freshman Sara Coenen is undefeated this season in the 100 and 200 backstrokes and the 200 free.

Columbia has a head coach who is very familiar with the surroundings here in Princeton. Diana Caskey was a standout swimmer for the Tigers, and she has made Columbia swimming a consistently competitive program. The Lions left their mark in Blodgett Pool at last year’s Ivies by winning the meet’s final event in an upset. The foursome of Hannah Galey, Kathryn Taylor, Casey Weddie and Mary McCue took gold in the 400 free relay.

Head coach Peter Brown looks for improvement from his Brown Bears. “I am confident in our ability to accomplish [a higher team finish] because of the squad’s training consistency to date and also because of the strong leadership put forth by our large senior class of swimmers and divers,” said Brown. Brown got the 1-meter diving gold from the graduated Jessica Larson last year. A returning silver medalist is Ashley Wallace, who was second in the 200 fly.

This will be the first Ivy women’s championship for Dartmouth head coach Jim Wilson. He is no stranger to the League, however, serving as the Big Green’s head coach of men’s swimming for 14 years. Dartmouth welcomes back a 2006 silver medalist in Lizzie Rippe, who was the runner-up in the 100 fly last winter.

Cornell has had some success in recent years at the Ivy championships as well. The now-graduated Jessica Brookman took Ivy gold in the 100 fly last season. You might see head coach John Holohan's Red on the awards stand again in that same event this weekend — Leah Tourtellotte has the fourth-fastest time in the League this season.

Princeton also seems to be the team to beat in diving. The Tigers have four returning finalists and two others in last year’s top 16. Papadakis from Harvard made both finals, as did Michelle DeMond and Katie Giarra from Princeton. Penn also has a returning finalist, Janis Scanlon, but these divers are joined by strong dual meet competitors from the other schools.