The Harvard women’s swimming and diving team faced its toughest competition of the young season this weekend, as the squad split for two major invitationals. The extra challenge pushed the Crimson to its fastest swims of the year.

“It was probably the best weekend for meets that we’ve ever had, by far,” Harvard coach Stephanie Morawski said.

Sophomores Kate Mills and Katherine Pickard led the way as nine school records fell, as the swimmers shared the pool with nationally-ranked competition at the annual Georgia Invitational.The divers stayed closer to home, competing at the Big Al Open in Princeton.

GEORGIA INVITATIONAL

The third year was the charm for the swimmers, as they had their fastest meet yet in Athens, Ga. Competing against No. 1 Georgia and No. 6 California, among other teams, the Crimson made its presence known and dramatically rewrote the school record board with a third-place finish.

The sophomore class provided the Harvard firepower, with Pickard claiming five records and Mills four.

Mills got things started on Friday in the 500-yard freestyle, winning the B final in 4:44.52 and stripping nearly three seconds off junior co-captain Alexandra Clarke’s previous record. Clarke was 13th in the event, and sophomore Christine Kaufman was 11th.

“Every single person at this meet did something amazing,” Morawski said. “From day one, the emotions were just running high...They were just going out there without any set limits.”

Records continued to fall on Saturday, highlighted by Pickard’s 400-yard individual medley swim. The sophomore cut 11 seconds off of her morning preliminary time to win the B final in 4:14.06. The time was nearly five seconds faster than the previous record.

Mills notched her second record by taking first in the C final of the 100-yard butterfly, finishing in 55.04.

“It was absolutely amazing to watch her,” Pickard said. “It’s great to know that your teammate and the person you train with every day is having such a great meet.”

In the final heat Saturday, Pickard sliced a second off of Mills’ freshly-minted record, leading off in 1:47.66. Her speedy performance pushed her teammates, sophomore Laura Murray, freshman Catherine Zagroba, and Clarke, to a fourth-place finish and new school record of 7:17.75. That time places them in the top 10 in the nation.

Yesterday brought further success for Harvard, as the talented freshman class finally got a chance to show off.

After Clarke and Kaufman finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in the 1650-yard freestyle, freshman Meghan Leddy swam her way to the top individual Harvard finish on the weekend, placing fourth overall in the 200-yard backstroke and getting her name in the record books with a time of 1:57.51.

Her classmates Helen Pitchik and Victoria Pratt both qualified for the A final in the 200-yard breaststroke, finishing fifth and eighth respectively.

“The freshmen were great, as a group. They were very together, they handled the pressure extremely well,” Morawski said. “It’s a great precursor of what’s to come.”

Mills and Pickard, Murray and classmate Katy Hinkle took third in the 400-yard freestyle relay, finishing in 3:22.33. Pickard’s 49.89 leg gave her the school record in the 100-yard freestyle. All nine of the records were also NCAA provisional times.

“It’s crazy. It still hasn’t really sunk in, but I’m very excited,” Pickard said. “It’s definitely such a great feeling to know that so far…we’re only halfway, and we’re already swimming so well.”

BIG AL OPEN

The Crimson divers faced equally tough competition at the Big Al Open, hosted by Princeton.

Sophomore Jenny Reese led the way for Harvard, placing 11th in the 3-meter event and 10th in the 1-meter event. She just missed qualifying for finals in each event, as only the top eight advanced.

Sophomore Marissa Ash and freshman Leslie Rea also scored points for the Crimson. Ash was 15th in the 1-meter, while Rea placed 16th in both events.

—Staff writer Kate Leist can be reached at kleist@fas.harvard.edu.