The final stop of this week's series of previews takes us out east to one of the oldest and most storied legacies of collegiate swimming. It's a league that's won NCAA titles, put people on the US Olympic Team, set American and World records and more. While much of the swimming balance of power has shifted south and west both the Ivy League and the Eastern Intercollegiate Swim League are very much relevant today. The teams regularly dominate the Mid-Major poll, earn votes on the CSCAA rankings and score at NCAA's.

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Princeton University
Head Coaches: Rob Orr (Men, 28th Year); Susan Teeter (Women, 23rd Year)
EISL (Men) Finish: 1st of 9; Ivy Finish (Women): 1st of 8
NCAA Finish: 21st (Men) - (Women)

Could there be two people more different Princeton head coaches Rob Orr and Susan Teeter? Imagine the passion and competitiveness of a Bob Knight, but better dressed and better mannered than the basketball legend. Orr? Imagine a beach bum plucked from Southern California and deposited in New Jersey asking, “Hey man, where’s the beach?” One thing the two have in common, however, is that both are defending league champions.

With scoring going to twenty-four places, the men captured the EISL title with depth. In fact, not a single Tiger tanker won an event. It wasn’t for lack of trying however. Meir Hasbani was a three-time runner-up at the league meet and finished 7th at NCAA’s in the 200 butterfly. The senior is one of several Illinois natives who will play pivotal roles this season. Also on that list are a pair of sophomores, Doug Lennox (fly, free) and Will Schaffer (free, IM). Robert Griest returns with several ‘B’ cuts and teams with Dave Ashley in the distance events. Michael Zee’s a top-flight backstroker. Hasbani can play the role of breaststroker on relays, but a tougher question will be how Princeton’s can replace the graduation of Will Reinhart and Alan Fishman. However with a roster in excess of fifty to draw from, chances are the Tigers will have someone looking for their place.

While depth ruled the men, the women captured four relays and five individual events at the Ivy Championships. Even better for Princeton fans is that the vast majority of those point scorers were just freshmen and sophomores last season. Ellen Gray returns to defend her 1000 and 1650 conference titles. Justina DiFazio is the foundation for the Tiger relays. She claimed the Ivy title in the 200 free and was runner-up in the 100. Brett Shiflett finished just behind DiFazio but did claim her own Ivy title in the 500 free. Senior Kelly Hannigan will give a still-youthful team some experience and, when teamed with Lisa Hamming, give Princeton a fantastic 1-2 punch in the IM’s. Like the men, the only real question mark surrounds breaststroke. The graduation of Sarah Schaffer makes an already thin group thinner. If they can find someone, the Tigers will be tough to tame.

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Harvard University 
Head Coaches: Tim Murphy (Men, ?th Year); Stephanie Wriede Morawski (Women, 10th Year) 
EISL (Men) Finish: 2nd of 9; Ivy Finish (Women): 2nd of 8 
NCAA Finish: 20th (Men) 45th (Women)

Some teams would cringe when they lose the conference athlete of the year, but not Harvard, in fact they’ve got a pair of spares. While Harvard said goodbye to EISL Co-Swimmer-of-the-Year Senior David Cromwell, they retain Co-Swimmer of the year Geoff Rathgeber and Diver-of-the-Year Danil Rybalko. Rathgeber, who made the Pan Am team this summer, aims to defend his IM and 200 breast titles and make it back for the evening heats at NCAA’s. Eric Lynch won the mile and 1000 free as a freshman, and will team with Sam Wollner to lead the distance crew. Pat Quinn is the top returning sprinter, and will be joined by the versatile David Guernsey to form the cornerstone of Harvard’s free relays. The rest of the league will have a tough time keeping up with the Joneses – that’s Bill and Dan Jones. The brothers were both top eight last season. Jason Degnan-Rojeski will handle the backstroke duties. He’s got big shoes to fill considering his predecessor was the best backstroker in EISL history, but even if he doesn’t, Harvard has a wealth of talent to bring in points.

The Harvard women look to recapture the glory that enabled them to capture the Ivy League title in 2005. It helps that they return Ivy Swimmer-of-the-Year and 2004 US National Champion Noelle Bassi. While she can improve on her NCAA finish, she can’t score many more points at the league meet and they’ll need all they can get to take down Princeton. Jaclyn Pagilinan swept both breaststrokes and will get help from Lee Ann Chang and Meaghan Colling. Lindsay Hart will handle the backstroke responsibilities and is also a capable IMer. The long IM and distance free is where Harvard’s the deepest. In addition to Bassi, Stacy Blondin and Linnea Sundberg are top eight finalists. Stacy and sister Kelly are a team in the distance events with Stacy finishing second in the 1000 and 1650. While the Crimson women have a great deal of talent, it’s not necessarily where they need it. The graduation of Erin Mulkey leaves a void in the sprint freestyles. Amanda Slaught and Emily Wilson are capable and will need to crack into the elite level, but they’re just two and Harvard needs to find two more to compete with the Princeton free relays.

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Columbia University 
Head Coaches: Jim Bolster (Men); Diana Caskey (Women) 
EISL (Men) Finish: 3rd of 9; Ivy Finish (Women): 3rd of 8 
NCAA Finish: - (Men) – (Women)

Jim Bolster, the Columbia men’s coach has a quest. That quest is to unseat Princeton and Harvard as EISL champions, something no team has done in thirty-four years. Last year they finished a strong, but distant third behind the big two and most of those points return for 2007. The Lions have talent spread throughout their roster, but last year their problem was a lack of depth. The solution was to go out and add fourteen new swimmers, any one of whom could make a difference, but with freshmen, who knows? What is known is that Henning Fong returns as one of the top distance men in the league. Cedric Cheung-Lau will join Fong in the mile and was also top four in the 400 IM last year. Tobin White offers the Lions and outstanding versatile sprinter. Lee Hyun enjoyed a breakthrough freshman year while Michael Nelson has one more shot to get the 200 breaststroke title. The only question mark is if the Lion backstrokers can compete with the league’s best. The freshman class is loaded with flyers (Nick Barron, Gunnar Aasen and Gabe Schubiner) and breaststroke/IM’ers (Adam Buckley, Jordan Kobb, Darren Pagan and Ross Ramone) and the Lions will need a few back-to-back classes like this to continue on their quest.

There were some raised eyebrows when Columbia emerged with a third-place finish at the Ivy Championships. The finish was the highest ever for the Lions but the icing on the cake was the 400 Freestyle Relay. Demonstrated that the sum is more than its component parts, the Columbia sprinters snatched a victory out from under the rest of the league. For the season ahead, the big two will continue to dominate this season but there’s little doubt that head cocah Diana Caskey and assistant Abby Brethauer have the ball rolling in the right direction. Amy Krakauer highlights a squad that loses very few points from last year’s campaign. She was top four in both breaststrokes and could contend for an individual title. Beyond Krakauer, its tough to single out any one individual because the Lions seem to have a couple of solid swimmers in each event. In the sprints it’s Hannah Galey and Mary McCue. Fly and back? Take Casey Wedle and Kelly McConnell. Distance? Well that’s Kathryn Taylor. With an incoming class of ten, Columbia will only get stronger and if they can equal their success in the water and on the recruiting trail, they’ll be well on their way.

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Cornell University 
Head Coaches: Joe Lucia (Men, 10th Season); John Holohan (Women, 3rd Season) 
EISL (Men) Finish: 4th of 9; Ivy Finish (Women): 8th of 8 
NCAA Finish: 46th (Men) – (Women)

The Big Red enjoyed a banner season last year, one that saw backstroker Stefano Caprara and freestyler Michael Smit make it to the big show. Smit shared EISL Swimmer-of-the-Year honors for his wins in the 200 butterfly and 200 and 500 freestyles while Caprara, with the graduation of David Cromwell, figures to have a say in the who wins the backstrokes this season. Philip Baity will also give chase and give the Big Red a chance to take two of the top four spots. Wesley Newman was runner-up to Smit in the 200 and 500 freestyle and could easily give Cornell another 1-2 finish. David McKechnie tallied another individual win in the 100 breaststroke. Brad Gorter and Michael Balint are solid sprinters, but the Big Red will need to find a way to replace flyer Stefano Caprara as no other Cornell flyer finished higher than 14th. Cornell can look forward to another solid year. If they can use that success to build their recruiting efforts, these guys could have the rest of the league seeing red.

For the Cornell women to improve on their 8th place finish at Ivy’s, they’ll need to find a way to replace a trio of seniors who picked up significant points. Jessica Brookman won the 100 fly and provided a pair of top eight finishes in the 200 fly and 500 free, but she, along with Ashley Johnson and Elissa Kline can now call themselves ‘alumni’. That leaves a small, but talented group which is capable putting points on the board, but will still find itself in a battle with Dartmouth to move about 8th place. Leah Tourtellotte is a racer in the springs, taking three top-eight finishes into the league meet. Emilie Rennie can post points in the distance events but will need to move beyond being an one-event scorer.

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Yale University 
Head Coach: Frank Keefe ( 28th Year) 
EISL (Men) Finish: 5th of 9; Ivy Finish (Women): 5th of 8 
NCAA Finish: 48th (Men) – (Women)

When Alex Righi touched the wall to win the 50 freestyle at the EISL championships he stamped his ticket to the NCAA championships. For the upcoming season Frank Keefe and company can look for Righi to continue his development from one of the nation’s most talented sprinters into one of its accomplished. He’s one of the Bulldog’s several multi-event scorers. For Yale to move upwards however, they will need to get the job done in the morning. Last year the Bulldogs won the consolation heat (or finished 9th) in five different events. That’s the type of point swing that could lift them into the top half. Ben Dzialo has built himself into one of the league’s top flyers and Andrew Foss has proved he can compete with the best in the league in the 200 and 500 freestyles. Colin Stalnecker can break through into that big heat as well while freshmen Chris Pool and Tyler Scheid provide the Bulldogs a good foundation in the butterfly.

The Yale women have dropped a place in the Ivy standings in each of the last three years. With a rebuilding Brown squad at their heels, the Bulldogs will need a total team effort to regain their footing and begin the climb back up the standings. To do that, they’ll lean heavily on a talented senior class led by Moira McCloskey. McCloskey swept the backstroke events last season and finished 4th in the 200 IM. Classmate Meg Gill is among the Ivy’s elite with top five finishes in the 50 and 100 free and 100 fly. Senior Kirsten Cartoski will lead a deep group of breaststrokers that features as many as five swimmers who could earn a spot in the big heat. Best among them is Marilee Kiernan and Katie French. Both are sophomores and both are continuing to improve. Laura Strittmatter is another sophomore who comes off a solid freshan campaign as does backstroker Brenna Davis. With solid leadership, the Bulldogs will push both Penn and Columbia, but they’ll need some fresh faces, both this fall and next, to keep pace in an increasingly-competitive league.

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Brown University 
Head Coach: Peter Brown (6th Year) 
EISL (Men) Finish: 7th of 9; Ivy Finish (Women): 6th of 8 
NCAA Finish: 48th (Men) – (Women)

No team was hit by graduations quite as hard as Brown. The Bears lose a trio of seniors who played significant roles on their Ivy team. Chief among those was Ivy League 50 and 100 freestyle champion Eileen Robinson. Robinson and fellow sprinter Elizabeth Wong left a big shoes to fill for sophomore Sarah Goodman. This year’s squad will lean heavily on Ashley Wallace for points. The flyer finished second in the 200 and returns as Brown’s only championship finalist from last season. Becky Kowalsky and Ainsley McFadgen provide depth in the freestyles, but they’ll need several teammates to step up and into bigger roles for the Bears to be successful.

The men’s team is in much the same boat as the women. In a league that scores to 24th place, squad size and depth are vital, and Brown is still building that base. Eric Brumberg and Brian Sharkey have graduated. The pair were the Bears’ highest scorers last season. Peter Volosin reached the top eight in both the 1000 and 1650. Kevin Hug and Dan Ricketts offer Brown some options in the backstroke while Richard Alexander is capable of moving up in the IM’s.

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University of Pennsylvania 
Head Coach: Women: Mike Schnur (8th Year) 
EISL (Men) Finish: 8th of 9; Ivy Finish (Women): 4th of 8 
NCAA Finish: - (Men) – (Women)

The Penn women enter the 2006-07 season with high hopes of bettering their best season in program history, a 4th place finish at the championships. The Quakers lose just one impact swimmer to graduation and are think with talent in distance free and IM. Cammie Villareal is forreal, with top-four finishes in the 1000 and 1650. Right beside her was teammate Margot Newcomer who finished in the top five. Lauren Bergstrom had an outstanding freshman year highlighted by a 5th place finish in the 200 freestyle. As the Quakers continue to add depth and talent, they should continue the upward trend started by Schnur eight years ago and continue to make a push towards the top of the pack.

The Penn men will have their hands full as they try too follow the path blazed by the women’s team. Pat Gallagher returns as the team’s top finisher, posting an 8th place finish in the 200 free at the league meet. After Gallagher, you have to go Jason McGrath (1000) and Yuchi Zhang (breast) to find swimmers placing in the top ten. Ted Rainaud gives the Quakers a presence in backstroke, but this team will be scrambling to make up for the loss of seniors Pat Maloney, Kevin Scott and Batt Blaszko.

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Navy 
Head Coach: Bill Roberts (4th Year) 
EISL (Men) Finish: 6th of 9 
NCAA Finish: - (Men)

While the end of last season left several men’s programs scrambling for a conference Navy has two – the EISL and the Patriot League. The Midshipmen captured the Patriot League title but finished 6th in the much more challenging EISL. That competition and chance to compete against the best is what drives the Mids. As 4th year head coach Bill Roberts explains, "The goals of our program are to provide an environment that will allow every team member to reach their potential academically, athletically and personally." It’s not all touchy-feely though as Roberts likewise expects the midshipmen to compete for a conference championship while sending athletes to the NCAA and Olympic Trial meets."

Kevin Kysiak is the top returner for Navy. The breaststroker was 4th place last year at the conference meet. After him you have to look down the results to start seeing more Navy men. They’ll try to overcome the loss Mike Linn and Joe Smutz, but have a pair of sophomores in Billy Vey and David Guthman who will benefit from a year under their belts.

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Dartmouth 
Head Coach: Jim Wilson (1st year Women, 13th year Men) 
EISL (Men) Finish: 9th of 9; Ivy Finish (Women): 7th of 8 
NCAA Finish: - (Men) - (Women)

It hasn’t been easy being a Dartmouth swimmer in recent years. First they try to cut your team which you later find listed on eBay. Then, just weeks before the season begins, your newly-hired women’s coach walks away from the position. Fortunately Dartmouth has the steady Jim Wilson to navigate the Big Green through turbulent waters. The men’s team hasn’t quite recovered from the previous attempts to eliminate the program and time will tell if Jerry Foley’s abrupt departure will affect the school in recruiting.

What Dartmouth does have to look forward to is Lizzie Rippe. The senior will be looking to top a season that saw her finish second in the 100 fly and win the consolation heat of the 100 freestyle. Laura Hester and Melissa Kern are other bright spots for the program which will hold its own, particularly in the freestyle events. On the men's side, the Big Green boast Andrew Ballentine, an utility swimmer, capable of performing at a high level in any event, Andrew Berry who they feel can go top three on both boards, Kevin Ellis who had a record-setting freshman year, Gordon Russell, their top backstroker and Drew Wenzel, their topo breaststroker and sprint freestyler