Women's Swimming and Diving Captures Wins in 10 Dual Meets

The Columbia women's swimming team had one of the most memorable seasons in the its history. The Lions finished 10-2, only losing to Ivy League powerhouses Harvard and Princeton. The Light Blue was led by its upperclassmen and able to get impressive performances from some of its sophomores. When all of its players swam well at the same time, the team was able to rise above the competition and placed third at the Ivy League championships.

The season started when Columbia hosted Yale. In the previous season, the Lions fell to the Bulldogs, but history would not repeat itself as Columbia started its campaign with a victory. The following weekend, Harvard came to New York and Columbia gave chase throughout the entire contest, falling to the Crimson.

The next week was the beginning of a seven-game Light Blue winning streak. Columbia beat Navy, Fordham, Penn, Wagner, Bucknell, Cornell, and Brown. In the beginning of February, Columbia traveled to Princeton and fell to the Tigers, but despite the loss, the Lions were not disheartened and maintained their focus on finishing the year strong. In the last dual meet of the season, Columbia was able to beat Dartmouth with a final score of 192-104 to head into the Ivy League championship meet.

Over the three-day competition, the Lions were in a battle with the Bulldogs and Quakers to stay in third place. But after each decisive victory, the Lions were able to secure themselves a third place finish. This was the Light Blue's highest finish in team history.

The Lions had one of the deepest squads in the Ivy League, which allowed them to have several strong swimmers in each stroke. However, there were several swimmers that led the group on a consistent basis. Junior Hannah Galey has been a great swimmer since she arrived at Columbia her freshman year. Galey is one of the strongest freestyle swimmers the Lions have and consistently placed well all season long. She also qualified to compete at the Canadian national Olympic trials earlier this year.

In the butterfly it was sophomore Allison Hobbs who had a break-out season this year. Hobbs consistently got faster as the season went on and in one of the final meets of the season, she was able to break the school's 100-yard butterfly record.

The Light Blue will be losing one of its strongest swimmers in senior co-captain Amy Krakauer. Not only has she provided key points in contests throughout her time at Columbia, but she has also has been a proven leader.

The least publicized aspect of swim meets would have to be the diving portion, but it is due to these events that the Lions were so successful. Shannon Hosey continued to deliver key dives throughout the season, including dives that gave her a first-place finish at Ivies.

The Lions will still have many of their strong swimmers next season, and look to improve on their third-place finish at Ivies.