The Harvard women’s swimming and diving team has a collection of T-shirts for meets and workouts. Each year, the coaches and team members select a slogan for these shirts that reflects the team’s goals and attitude for the upcoming season.

On the back of this year’s signature shirt, it simply says, “Stronger.”

That’s fitting, because if the Crimson is to make an impact in the Ivy League this year, Harvard will indeed need to be stronger and more consistent this than it has been in the recent past.

And if you were to ask any of the team’s swimmers and divers, they would tell you this is the year they are going to turn things around.

“We’re looking to go undefeated this season and we want to win the Ivy League title,” said Rachael O’Beirne, an Ivy League finalist and veteran Crimson breaststroker. “We’re confident and excited.”

Last year’s team had great individual successes, led by tri-captain Pia Chock. Chock dominated the league’s sprinting and butterfly events leading up to the Ivy Championships. She left with team records in the 100 and 200-yard butterfly events.

But even as individual swimmers posted a number of breakthrough performances and personal-best times, Harvard had difficulty replicating those

swims on the relays last season.

What also made those individuals’ swims bittersweet was the fact that other teams in the Ivy League—like Princeton, Yale, and Pennsylvania—had been improving at a faster rate and recruiting with greater success than Harvard.

But in the eyes of co-captain Catie Lee, all of that is about to change.

“We’re looking to be mentally tougher and we are sharpening our competitive edge,” Lee said. “Our frosh are super-competitive, and with their potential and their attitude, it’s no secret that our confidence, intensity, and training will pay off.”

According to junior standout Jane Humphries, the future of Crimson swimming and diving is bright because of the talent of its freshmen class.

“These girls are stellar. They are healthy and they are ready to step up,” said Humphries said.

Harvard will look toward the Class of 2005 with the hope that it can bridge the gap between the Crimson and the top teams in the Ivy League, Princeton and Brown.

“Our improvement and the arrival of our freshmen comes at an opportune time,” Co-captain Janna McDougall McDougall said. “Princeton has been at the top of the league for a while, and it is easy to become complacent. Brown has a new coach, and their team, in our eyes, is a little unstable right now.”