"Water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink." Such was the sentiment of the women’s swim team as they competed in the SCIAC Championships, Feb 15-17. Well, except the part about the "not a drop to drink," for they did indeed come amply prepared with fresh water. And they could have drunk the pool water, too, if they wanted. And I guess water wasn’t everywhere, for they spent much of the time on the pool deck, which was dry.

Elizabeth Widmar Pomona-Pitzerwomen swimmers flex to show off the muscles that carried them to second place.

But there definitely was a certain amount of water at the tournament, and more importantly, it made a good lead-in for the rest of this article, which in other respects is very dry, to say the least.

Day Zero– Much to the chagrin of all involved, the tournament was postponed a day. "Total buzzkill," team captain Alli Schwartzman ’01 commented.

Day One– The Sagehens entered with high hopes, knowing they had a legitimate chance at walking away with a team gold in this most important of swim meets. However, the Hens had a rocky start with the disqualification of the very talented 200y freestyle relay team in the opening event of the tournament. "We were sad about it but we picked up the points in other places. The last swimmer left the blocks before the previous swimmer got there, it was really close though. It was our fastest time of the year though, which was really good. We’ll get ’em next year," said relay team participant Elizabeth Widmar ’03.

The Hens rallied, however, in the 500y freestyle. Christen Parker PI ’02 won the event with a final time of 4:59.91, a time that was so fast that it qualified her for NCAA competition.

In the 200y IM, the Hens had notable performances from three swimmers. Lucia Schmit ’03 came in second with a time of 2:11.89, followed closely by teammates Kate Bollinger ’01 and Sara Ball ’04, who finished third and fifth respectively.

When asked about her performance, Ball could only nod vigorously and try to explain that she had lost her voice cheering. "When I cheer, I cheer, you know, I’m all yelling and screaming. That’s why I get all hoarse. I think I have a weak voice. It always gives out after two days."

Elizabeth Widmar A Pomona-Pitzer swimmer breast strokes her way to victory.

Despite their disqualification in the first relay, the Hens relay teams remained confident, and rightly so. The outstanding swimming of Parker, Schmit and 400y medley mates Lizzy Davis PI ’04 and Jacquie Cole ’02 brought the team a much needed boost with a third place finish in that event.

Also on the first day of competition was the women’s 1M diving. The Hens entered four divers. Elena Scire ’04 finished seventh. Teammates Tyler Elcano PI ’03, Anne Lindberg ’03 and Anne Baptiste PI ’02 finished 9-11 in the event.

Day 2- The Hens return ready for another day of competition. Although they have not dominated the competition as they had hoped, they are still in a good position. A new day, a clean slate, how would PP fare? Well, I’ll tell you…

The 200y medley team of Parker, Davis, Widmar and Claire Townsend ’01 started the day off with an impressive third-place finish. Not to be outdone, the swimmers of the 400y IM also put up impressive numbers, with Bollinger and Schmit finishing first and third in that event. Bollinger’s time was good enough to qualify for the NCAAs. Later in that day, Parker would tally up another victory, this time in the 200y freestyle with a time of 153.92, also an NCAA qualifying time. To round out what was clearly their best day of competition, the 800y freestyle relay team of Schmit, Parker, Cole and Sarah Kalhorn ’04 secured another victory with a time of 7:51.92.

Day 3- Coming off of a strong showing the day before, the PP team looks to carry the momentum into the final and decisive day of competition.

Ashley Eastman ’01 started things off with a victory in her signature event, the 1650y freestyle. Things were looking good for the Sagehens. Then disaster struck! Just kidding.

In the 100y freestyle, Parker swam to her final victory of the meet, finishing with a time of 53.57. Other Sagehen successes occurred in the 200y breaststroke, where Ball and Schmit finished second and third with times of 2:29.27 and 2:31.03. In the 200y butterfly, Bollinger came in second with a time of 2:11.73.

Despite an excellent meet from all parts of the PP team, Redlands was graced with the overall team victory. The Hens came 63 points behind and 36 points ahead of CMS, who followed in third.

Oxy, La Verne, Cal Tech and Whittier rounded out the standings. Schwartzman said, "It was a good meet, and we’re really proud of our second place finish. It was difficult because we disqualified that relay team, and we beat CMC even though they were seeded higher than us. Overall, I would say it was a successful meet, not an exceptional meet. But we did beat CMC."