Forrester, Kim Both Break Pool Records

PRINCETON, N.J. - As has been the case many times this year, senior Susan Kim and freshman Alex Forrester came up with victories for the Bulldogs, but this time it was not enough to take down Princeton and Harvard.  Yale could not come up with enough points to keep it close and it suffered its first two Ivy League loses of the year.  Yale fell to Harvard180-120 and to Princeton 191-107.  Princeton won the meet and the league title defeating Harvard, 196-102.

The Bulldogs opened the meet with a disappointingly close loss in the 200-yard medley relay.  Yale took third behind Princeton's A and B teams, but missed out on second by just 0.07 seconds.  The team of sophomore Emily Dominski, Kim, Forrester and freshman Cynthia Tsay finished with a time of 1:43.58.  The Princeton A team swam a time of 1:40.00 which broke the pool record by over two seconds and earned them an NCAA B cut.

The Bulldogs struggled over the next two events.  In the 1000-yard freestyle, Yale's highest finisher, sophomore Abigail Nunn, could do no better than 10^th place.  Her best time coming into the meet was 10:12.49, but on Saturday she could only muster 10:16.64.  The rest of the Bulldog team fell in line behind her with freshman Joan Weaver, junior Annie Killian and freshman Margaret Brown finishing 11^th, 12^th and 13^th, respectively.  Senior Jennifer Karinen took 15^th.

Yale also barely placed inside the top-10 in the 200-yard freestyle.  Junior Kristin Darwin took ninth for the Bulldogs with a time of 1:52.70.  She was followed by three other Yale swimmers, Tsay, senior Laura Grigereit and junior Ileana Lucos who took 10^th, 11^th and 12^th, respectively.  Freshman Margaret Brown and Killian also competed for Yale.

Yale's first strong individual finish of the day came courtesy of Dominski who took second in the 100-yard backstroke.  Her time of 57.41 came in just under three seconds behind Meredith Monroe of Princeton who earned an NCAA B cut with her time of 54.68.  Freshman Molly Albrecht also earned points for the Bulldogs, taking sixth with a time of 58.33.

Kim suffered her first defeat in a breaststroke event this year in the 100-yard breaststroke.  Courtney Kilkuts of Princeton took first, breaking the pool record with a time of 1:02.03.  Kim, who defeated Kilkuts in last year's Ivy League Championships, took second with a time of 1:02.74, earning herself an NCAA B cut.  No other Yale swimmer managed to crack the top-10 in the event, but freshman Athena Liao took 11^th with a time of 1:06.72.

Freshman Alex Forrester earned an NCAA B cut when she took second in the 200-yard butterfly event.  Her time of 1:57.41 was just two seconds off the NCAA A cut line.  Alicia Aemisegger of Princeton earned herself an NCAA A cut with her time of 1:54.84.  Freshman Monica Tung took 8^th in the event with a time of 2:05.42.

Yale managed to place three swimmers in the top-10 of the 50-yard freestyle.  Sophomore Erica Kao took sixth with a time of 24.09.  She was followed closely by teammates Tsay and Dominski in seventh and eighth, respectively.  Tsay's time was 24.16 and Dominski's was 24.18. 

The divers fared well at the meet.  Two of Yale's divers, sophomore Rachel Rosenberg and freshman Paige Meneses, have already clinched spots in the NCAA Zone Diving Championships and they showed why on Saturday.  In the three-meter diving, Meneses took second with a score of 254.25 and Rosenberg took fifth with a score of 240.75.  Sophomore Lisa Andrekovich also finished in the top-10, taking eighth with a score of 232.70, while senior Marisa Poverman rounded out Yale's team in 12^th with a score of 220.65.  In the one-meter event, Meneses and Rosenberg stayed right where they were.  Meneses took second with a score of 253.65 and Rosenberg took fifth with a score of 237.50.  Andrekovich and Poverman took 13^th and 15^th, respectively.  Andrekovich scored 212.45 and Poverman scored 202.05.

Yale picked up its first victory of the meet in the 100-yard freestyle.  Forrester swam her fastest time of the year and earned herself an NCAA B cut as well as first place with a time of 49.92.  She managed to drop 0.45 seconds of her time to defeat Megan Waters of Princeton who also earned an NCAA B cut with her time of 50.16.  Tsay and Grigereit also placed inside the top-10.  Tsay came in fifth with a time of 52.27, her fastest time of the year, and Grigereit took 10^th with a time of 52.97, also her fastest.

In the 200-yard backstroke, Yale only managed to score points thanks to Albrecht.  She took fifth with a time of 2:03.89.

Kim may have lost her first race in the 100-yard breaststroke, but she remained undefeated in the 200-yard breaststroke, getting revenge on Kilkuts.  Kim swam the event in a time of 2:12.64 earning herself an NCAA B cut and breaking the Princeton pool record set by Aemisegger in 2007.  Kilkuts came in nearly two seconds behind Kim at 2:14.36.  Liao also cracked the top-10, taking eighth with a time of 2:22.54.

The Bulldogs again struggled in the long distance freestyle with ninth being their highest place in the 500-yard freestyle.  Weaver took that spot with a time of 5:00.41.  Yale claimed spots nine through 14 as Grigereit, Nunn, Brown, Killian and Karinen took spots 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14, respectively.

Forrester came up with another huge win for the Bulldogs in the 100-yard butterfly.  Her time of 52.64 earned her an NCAA B cut, broke the Princeton pool record and nearly earned her an NCAA A cut.  She was just 0.62 seconds away from earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.  Senior Andrea Clifford also came up with a huge swim for the Bulldogs dropping over four seconds from her season best time to take sixth in the event.

The final individual event of the day was the 200-yard IM.  Kim was the only Bulldog to crack the top-10, taking sixth with a time of 2:06.77.  Darwin came up with a big swim for the Bulldogs, dropping over five seconds from her season best time to take 12^th place.  Her time was 2:09.74.

The final event of the day was the 400-yard freestyle relay where the Bulldogs came up with a second plash finish.  The team of Clifford, Dominski, Girgereit, and Weaver finished with a time of 3:31.29.

Yale now drops to 4-2 in the Ivy League and 6-3 overall.  The Bulldogs will have a quick turnaround before facing Brown on Feb. 3.  That meet will take place at UMass-Dartmouth at 3:00 p.m.

Report filed by Charles Moore '10, Yale Sports Publicity