Even though only half the team was there to swim, the Harvard women’s swimming and diving team just doesn’t know how to disappoint.

“We knew that we were only brining a smaller team compared to other teams,” said sophomore Jessica Davidson of the ECAC championships, held Friday through Sunday. “No one had any expectations for us, and we wanted to show them that we could compete.”

One would wonder how the Crimson—with only 12 swimmers and one diver, as the rest of the squad was at the Ivy League championships­—could perform at the ECACs, but Harvard didn’t drop the ball.

“Going into the meet, I think we all thought it was going to be tough, but we [and our teammates at the Ivies] were all back and forth on the phone calling each other,” said freshman Catherine Skoda. “To hear about them winning their races would motivate us and get us excited for our own races. It was just so much support it didn’t seem like anything was missing.”

After three days of intense competition, the Crimson finished in third place with a score of 371.5 points, falling behind only Boston College and the University of New Hampshire, who placed first and second with 592 and 585 points, respectively.

“I think we are definitely happy [with our third place finish],” said sophomore Kate O’Brien. “We set a standard for our team. Winning is certainly a possibility and will be our goal next year. It is a really long meet and really stressful, and we were excited that we pulled out a third place finish.”

While the relay teams seemed to struggle somewhat at the Ivies, never being able to claim a first place finish, the relay teams at ECACs brought in the most points overall for their team, consistently finishing high.

Three Harvard relays even claimed the third place spot in their races.

A Crimson team of freshman Skoda, sophomores Kyle Cutter and Kathleen Huber, and junior Kim Linsenmann took third in the 200-yard freestyle relay, while the team of Linsenmann, O’Brien, sophomore Kara O’Reilly, and junior Kim Ono finished third in the 200-medley relay.

“I think relays are always the most fun part of a meet because you are swimming with your teammates in your race,” Skoda said. “I know that a lot of us had our fastest swims in our relays because you are swimming for your team and it pushes you harder.”

Linsenmann, Huber, Skoda, and Davidson even ended the meet’s final day with a third-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay.

“All the people on all the relays performed incredibly well every time,” O’Brien said. “They were never under par and always performed above what was expected.”

The Crimson had another strong finish in the 800-free relay, when the team of Skoda, Davidson, O’Reilly, and Huber took fifth.

And coming in sixth in the 400-yard medley was Harvard’s quartet of Skoda, O’Reilly, Huber, and junior Joanna Lee.

Besides the relays, the highest place that a Crimson swimmer or diver managed to claim was third.