This affected Harvard's performance primarily in the sprinting events, including the relays, because the fastest sprinters were not shaved and tapered.
"[The Harvard team] knew that the focus was on meets down the line but it was still no less frustrating to lose at H-Y-P," said co-captain Eric Matuszak.
Despite the overall disappointment with the loss to Princeton, there were several personal successes at H-Y-P. Junior Greg Wriede came from behind in the last 25 yards of the 200 Backstroke to take first place with a time of 1:48.70. Wriede also placed second in the 200 Individual Medley in 1:50.76 after Kiedel, who took first with a time of 1:49.78.
Sophomore Tim Martin and junior Denis Sirringhaus also made themselves known at H-Y-P, taking first and second in the 1000 Freestyle with times of 9:11.30 and 9:12.86 respectively. Most of the people who were shaved swam personal-best times, including sophomore Ben Rosen, who took third place with a time of 1:39.49 in the 200 Freestyle and fourth in the 50 Freestyle with a time of 20.86.
Harvard avenged its loss to Princeton at H-Y-P by crushing the competition at the more important Eastern League Conference Championship at West Point, winning the meet by a large margin for its third straight Easterns title. Ribeiro helped bring the team to the forefront at the meet, finishing his swimming career with three straight best times in the 100 Butterfly, his major event.
In the morning preliminaries, he went 50.09, which he then beat in a swim-off to qualify for finals. He broke his personal best for the third time in finals with a time of 49.62.
"I am happy that my 10-year swimming career ended on such a good note," Ribeiro said. "Individually, I went best times in my last meet and had a lot of fun during the season."
Harvard also swept the 1500 Freestyle at Easterns in the order of Martin with a time of 15:13.65, Sirringhaus with 15:34.54 and Cadman with a time of 15:38.02.
"Placing third in the 1500 at Easterns was great revenge for H-Y-P, when I was just touched out for third place," Cadman said.
Kiedel, Cornue, freshman Jamie Waters and Kurmakov fulfilled a Harvard tradition by winning the 400 Freestyle Relay with a time of 2:58.23. Harvard has not lost the 400 Freestyle Relay at Easterns since 1980.
But sophomore Tim Martin was the focus of attention at Easterns, as he shared the lead for most points at the meet with Brown junior Charles Barnes. Martin took first in the 1650 Freestyle, the 500 Freestyle and the 1000 Freestyle.
"There were a lot of really good performances, and it is difficult to point out just one in particular, but all of Tim Martin's swims were really impressive," Keidel said.
Harvard also made its mark abroad this year. Sirringhaus won the 1500-meter Freestyle at the long-course South African Nationals, which took place the weekend after NCAAs. His time was an impressive one-tenth of a second off of his best time, with which he ranked 38th in the world in 1997. Sirringhaus also took second in the 400-meter Freestyle long course.
Kiedel, another international been there on the Crimson squad, will miss his own graduation ceremony to attend the German Nationals in June.
After an amazing season, the team will lose seniors Kiedel, Matuszak, Cornue, Schwartz, Mone and Rob Anagnosen. However, those who remain have high hopes for seasons to come.
"Getting 11th in the country [at NCAAs] is the greatest achievement," Cadman said. "I am proud to have been part of this team, and I am looking forward to continuing our success next year."