Capping off its regular season, the Crimson faced off against the Tigers, long the dominant power in Ivy women’s swimming.

Although Harvard had certainly made progress since the previous season’s Ivy Championship, it was still no match for Princeton at the H-Y-P meet.

Despite a strong two-victory effort from Evans and virtual dominance on the boards behind junior Rene Paradise and sophomore Anne Osmun—who took first and second on the three-meter board, as well as second and third on the one-meter—the Crimson’s individual accomplishments paled in comparison to the awesome power of the Tigers’ machine.

Headed into the event riding a 38-event dual meet winning streak, Princeton simply would not be denied.

The Tigers won 10 of the 15 non-diving events held, including seven-of-nine on the first day, distancing themselves from the other two schools and undermining resolve for a comeback drive.

The first day of Ivy Championships competition appeared to be more of the same, if not worse, as Harvard plummeted to fourth place in the overall standings far behind Princeton and Brown, but right behind Yale.

Still, the team did not lose heart, knowing that a better day lay ahead on the second day of competition. On the first day, only 12 of the Crimson’s swimmers partook while other schools fielded full 15-woman efforts.

Not only would Harvard’s full roster be out in force on the second and third days, but its best events of the season would be held as well.

“I don’t think it shook us very much since historically we’ve been a really strong back-half team,” freshman Emily Stapleton said. “We knew that we had more firepower coming later.”

Stapleton ensured that the Crimson arsenal would perform well in the backstroke, combining with freshman Michelle Bright to produce a most unusual result—a tie.

The tandem touched the wall simultaneously in the 200-yard backstroke event, each blazing to a first-place finish.

In the 200-yard butterfly, senior Anna Fraser and Evans turned in a one-two finish that would further enhance Harvard’s standing.

But in the end, it was not the work of any single individual that guaranteed the high finish.

Thirteen top-eight finishes propelled the Crimson to a 32.5-point victory over the Bears.

“Our coach had pointed out to us that we were pretty much matched up with Brown since we each had nine finalists,” Stapleton said. “We had more people in the [consolation finals], but we were basically the aggressors. They were going into finals better off seeding-wise.”