Kim, Forrester Combine for Seven Wins

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The Bulldogs lost only two events on Sunday en route to a 207-93 victory over Cornell.  Yale swept the top three spots in five events to improve to 4-0 in dual meets.  Both senior Susan Kim and Alex Forrester won all four events they swam, each won three individual events and helped lead the 200-yard medley relay to victory.  The two swimmers led the Bulldogs to their second Ivy League victory of the season.

"We had a great training session over break," said Robert J.H. Kiphuth Director of Swimming Frank Keefe.  "The kids are tired, but that's what we had to do. We only have about a month left in our dual meet season, and then it's time for championships. They swam well, but they can swim faster."

The Bulldogs opened the day with almost a three second victory in the 200-yard medley relay.  The team of sophomore Emily Dominski, Kim, Forrester, and freshman Cynthia Tsay finished the relay in 1:45.60.  Cornell came in second with a time of 1:48.31 as well as third with a time of 1:50.04. 

Yale took their first victory and never looked back.  In the 1000-yard freestyle, the Bulldogs finished one-two-three.  Sophomore Abigail Nunn took the top spot with a time of 10:22.62.  She was followed closely by junior Annie Killian and freshman Margaret Brown whose times were 10:24.90 and 10:35.53, respectively. 

Two freshmen battled hard for the top spot in the 200-yard freestyle.  Freshman Joan Weaver and Tsay finished just 0.30 seconds apart, but ultimately it was Weaver who emerged victorious.  Weaver's time was 1:54.25 to Tsay's 1:54.55.  Senior Laura Grigereit took fourth in the event with a time of 1:57.22.

One of the only two events the Bulldogs lost was the 100-yard backstroke.  Freshman Molly Albrecht and Dominski finished in the top three, but it was Chiara Spinazzola of Cornell who claimed the top spot.  Her time was 57.47.  Dominski took second with a time of 58.19 and Albrecht came in 0.20 seconds behind her at 58.39.

Kim claimed the first of the two breaststroke events by over three seconds.  Her time of 1:04.32 was 3.16 seconds faster than Jessie Holley of Cornell.  Sophomore Athena Liao just barely missed out on second place with a time of 1:07.62.

The Bulldogs dominated the 200-yard butterfly, claiming the top three spots.  Junior Ileana Lucos took first with a time of 2:05.26.  She was followed closely by sophomore Hayes Hyde and freshman Monica Tung.  They finished with times of 2:05.26 and 2:06.06, respectively.

Next up was Forrester's first individual victory of the day.  She won the always tight 50-yard freestyle by almost a full second.  Her time of 23.56 was 0.86 seconds faster than second-place finisher Ali Guba of Cornell.

"Alex Forrester swam well, but we expect her to swim well," said Keefe.  "We had a tough couple weeks of training, so a lot of kids were tired, and Forrester had been with her club team then came back to us. She swam well, but she's tired, too."

The Bulldogs won both diving events and dominated the one-meter.  Sophomore Rachel Rosenberg took the top spot in the one-meter with a score of 253.79.  She was followed closely by freshman Paige Meneses and sophomore Lisa Andrekovich who took second and third, respectively.  Meneses score 240.36 points, while Andrekovich inched out third place with a score of 226.27.  In the three-meter, Menses took the top spot with the highest score of the day, 258.37.  Rosenberg took third with a score of 232.42 and senior Marisa Poverman took fourth with 230.17.

Forrester claimed her second victory of the day by leading a Yale sweep of the 100-yard freestyle.  Forrester took first with a time of 51.14, while Lucos and Hyde took second and third with times of 53.75 and 53.83, respectively.

Albrecht was the only Yale swimmer to place in the top four in the 200-yard backstroke.  She won the event with a time of 2:05.33.

The second breaststroke event of the day saw another Kim victory.  She won the event by a staggering 7.23 seconds.  She finished with a time of 2:15.21.  Liao took second with a time of 2:22.44.

The Bulldogs final sweep of the day came in the 500-yard freestyle, where Weaver took first in a time of 5:02.57.  The closest Cornell swimmer to her was 12.08 seconds behind her.  Nunn and Killian took second and third with times of 5:04.71 and 5:08.48, respectively.

Forrester's final victory of the day came in the 100-yard butterfly where she took first with a time of 54.46.  Spinazzola of Cornell was a full 3.27 seconds behind her.  Tung took third with a time of 28.67.

The final individual event of the day was the 200-yard IM where Kim and Hyde combined for a one-two finish.  Kim dominated the field by 4.96 seconds, winning with a time of 2:07.21.  Hyde finished with a time of 2:12.17.

The Bulldogs ended the day with a second place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay.  The team of Grigereit, Killian, freshman Victoria Lawrence, and Tsay took second with a time of 3:37.71.

"We're trying to finish in the top three in the Ivy League," said Keefe.  "Today was a good start on that for the women."

The Bulldogs will get to take their next step towards Ivy League dominance when they face Penn and Dartmouth next Saturday, Jan. 10.  That meet will take place at 12:00 p.m. at Penn.

• More photos courtesy of Yale Swimming Association

Report filed by Charles Moore '10, Yale Sports Publicity.