Newsletter, Volume 1 Month 00, 0000
PVC News & Notes
News & Notes
A New Look
Weihenmayer to Visit Nov. 16
The PVC News has a new look, and a new focus, for the 2005-06 season. An 8.5X11 magazine-style piece, published five times a year, will replace the tabloid-style piece of years past, and the emphasis will be on the PVC’s core values of Performance, Values & Community. “In conjunction with the release of the new website and some of our new initiatives, we felt the time was right to give the PVC News a new look as well,” says Associate Director of Athletics Jamie Zaninovich. “You’ll still find plenty of news and features about Princeton athletics, but you’ll also learn a lot more about what both our athletes and the PVC are doing off the field.” Look for the next issue of the PVC News in mid-December.
Erik Weihenmayer, the first blind man in history to reach the summit of Mount Everest, will visit Princeton as part of the recently-endowed PVC Jake McCandless ’51 Speakers Series on Wed., Nov. 16, at 8 p.m. in Richardson Auditorium. Despite losing his sight at the age of 13, Weihenmayer has become one of the world’s most accomplished mountain climbers. His ascent of Australia’s Mount Kosciusko in 2002 made him one of just 100 climbers to have reached the Seven Summits—the highest peaks on the world’s seven continents. Erik is the son of Ed Weihenmayer ’62, a former football team captain at Princeton. In addition to being a world-class athlete, Weihenmayer is the author of Touch the Top of the World, a memoir dealing with his struggle to push past the limits of vision loss.
Basketball Schedules Out Both the Princeton men’s and women’s basketball teams will play in California this season, and both will match up with some of the nation’s top programs. The schedules for each team were officially released in September. Joe Scott’s men’s team will play at the Pete Newell Challenge Dec. 21 in Oakland, Calif., facing Stanford in the first game of a doubleheader that also features De Paul and California. The PVC will sponsor a pregame reception at the Oakland Arena in conjunction with the game. Princeton will also play at Wake Forest Dec. 17 and host a Preseason NIT first-round game Nov. 14 against Drexel. The Tigers have an excellent 13-game home schedule that features Temple and Wyoming in addition to their seven Ivy League home games. For ticket information, call the Princeton ticket office at 609-258-3538. Richard Barron’s women’s team visits Moraga, Calif., and Saint Mary’s College for a tournament Nov. 25 and 26, but the real highlight of the schedule comes about a month later, when the Tigers visit Tennessee’s Thompson-Boling Arena for matchup with Pat Summitt’s Volunteers. Princeton also hosts Rutgers at Jadwin Gym in December. The Tigers spent 10 days this past summer in Scandinavia, playing six games in Norway, Sweden & Denmark. For complete schedules for all 38 Princeton varsity teams, visit GoPrincetonTigers.com.
Varsity Club News
October 2005
Ehrlichman Helps U.S. to Best-Ever Finish at Junior World Cup Princeton senior field hockey player Lauren Ehrlichman helped the United States Under-21 Field Hockey Team to a best-ever seventhplace finish at the Junior World Cup, held in September in Santiago, Chile. Ehrlichman missed part of Princeton’s season to join the U.S. team. The team finished 4-2-2 at the 11-day event, including wins over England and South Africa and tie with the top seed, Holland.
On Top Again For the ninth time in the past 10 seasons, Princeton was the highest-finishing nonscholarship school in the NACDA Directors’ Cup Standings in 2004-05. Princeton finished the year 42nd. The Directors’ Cup is a program that honors institutions that maintain a broad-based athletics program and achieve success in many sports.
Upcoming PVC Events November 12 Football vs. Yale Pre-Game Reception PVC Weight Room Dedication November 15 Career Night Frist Campus Center Multipurpose Room November 16 Jake McCandless ’51 PVC Speakers Series Erik Weihenmayer December 21 Men’s Basketball at Stanford Pregame Reception January 12 Winter PVC Luncheon with the Coaches presented by Glenmede Trust February 11 ’35 Years of Women’s Athletics at Princeton” Celebration March 7 Men’s Basketball vs. Penn Pregame Reception presented by Glenmede Trust April 13 Spring PVC Luncheon with the Coaches presented by Glenmede Trust June 1 Senior Student-Athlete Awards Banquet visit www.PrincetonVarsityClub.org for updates on upcoming events Princeton Varsity Club News published by Princeton’s Department of Athletics, Jadwin Gymnasium, Princeton University, Princeton, N.J., 08544-0071 Princeton Varsity Club 609-258-5666 www.PrincetonVarsityClub.org Director of Athletics Gary Walters ’67 Associate Director of Athletics for Athletic Relations & Marketing Jamie Zaninovich Assistant Director of Athletic Relations & Marketing Nick Konawalik Assistant Director of the Princeton Varsity Club Louise Gengler ’75 Athletic Friends Group Manager Lorin Maurer Associate Director of Athletics Jerry Price Assistant Directors of Athletic Communications/ PVC News Editors David Rosenfeld, Craig Sachson Athletic Communications Assistant/PVC Design Yariv Amir Staff Photographer Beverly Schaefer all photos ® Beverly Schaefer unless noted printing by Prism Color Corp. Moorestown, N.J.
PVC Student-Athlete Feature
Laughing…All the Way to the Final Four Senior Emily Behncke has plenty of reasons to smile • by Jerry Price
E
mily Behncke giggles. A lot. After every sentence, almost. Emily Behncke asks a person how they’re doing and really wants to know. Emily Behncke smiles. Constantly. And then Emily Behncke steps on the field and rips your heart out. “She is at once the most competitive person and the nicest person,” says Princeton women’s soccer coach Julie Shackford of Behncke, her senior co-captain. “It’s not a combination that usually goes together. Usually, highly competitive people have an edge to them off the field, but that’s not the case with Emily.” What is the case with Emily is this: She is clearly one of the greatest players in the history of Princeton women’s soccer and quite possibly its most clutch. Behncke is currently in third place all-time in program history in goals scored and points scored in a career. She has been the Ivy League Rookie of the Year and twice a first-team All-Ivy League selection. She also scored perhaps the biggest goal in the history of the program and followed that one up with several others that were almost as big, and she did all this in settings that proved without question that her competitive side comes out when it’s needed most. Behncke’s goal came with 41 seconds remaining against Harvard last year, with the Tigers down 1-0. Behncke then assisted on Esmeralda Negron’s game-winner late in the second overtime for a 2-1 win. It was that win, and by extension Behncke’s goal, that rocketed Princeton to the program’s first perfect Ivy League record and then four NCAA tournament wins that made the Tigers the first league school ever to reach the Final Four. “The thing about Princeton is that it’s the kind of place that lets you accomplish whatever you set out to do,” Behncke says. “I
thought reaching the Final Four was something the program could achieve. We have a great coaching staff and committed players, and this was something everyone was working hard for. In the end, it was a dream come true.” Princeton completely outplayed the Crimson, but Harvard snuck one early second-half goal in and seemed poised to ride that to the win. Chance after chance came and went for Princeton, who was about to suffer a crushing defeat. Then, in the final minute, one last ball was sent into the area. It knocked around and finally found its way to Behncke, who ripped a low, left-footed shot past the goalkeeper into the back of the net. “I don’t think I realized how little time was left in the game,” Behncke says. “Everything sort of opened up, and I took the ball. I had a spot, and my first reaction was to shoot.” After it took more than 10 years to score one goal against Harvard at home, it took Princeton fewer than 20 more minutes to do it again. This time, Diana Matheson fed a long pass through to Behncke, who redirected it past the goalkeeper in front of the net, where Negron easily knocked it in, sparking a wild celebration. ”I think in a lot of ways that was the turning point for us,” says Behncke. “We had done something that we had struggled with so much year in and year out, and it was nice to have that behind us.” Princeton then outscored its final two Ivy opponents by a combined 11-1 and then topped Central Connecticut and Villanova to reach the Sweet 16 of the tournament. In that game, Princeton and Boston College sweated out almost 80 minutes of scoreless soccer before Behncke scored two goals 1:34 apart to send the Tigers to the quarterfinals. In the quarters, Behncke scored the first goal and then assisted on the second to spark Princeton to a 3-1 win over Washington and a spot in
the College Cup in North Carolina. Behncke, the youngest of Bob and Becky Behncke’s three children, was born in Kansas and lived in Washington state briefly before spending almost her entire childhood in Williamsburg, Va. Her two siblings Griff and Matt, both preceded her as soccer players at Princeton, and she and Matt are the only b ro t h e r - s i s t e r combination ever to each be named Ivy Rookie of the Year in the same sport. Bob, a retired Lt. Colonel, played in the 1968 NCAA Final Four while at West Point. Behncke’s first experience at Princeton came in seventh grade, when Griff was a freshman . “We came up and moved him into Holder,” says Behncke. “I thought it looked like a giant castle. I remember the campus felt really big. We came to games all the time. I came to games here for six years before it was my turn.” Her turn came in 2002, and she responded by scoring five goals, winning the Rookie of the Year award and helping Princeton to the Ivy League championship and NCAA tournament. Her sophomore year saw her score seven goals and add five assists as Princeton again played in the NCAA tournament, only to suffer a disappointing 2-1 loss to Villanova. The 2004 season would be different. Behncke scored nine goals and had four assists in the 17-game
regular-season and then scored four more goals and added an assist in the march to the Final Four. Her 13 goals and 31 points would have tied the 20-year-old school records for a season, had Negron not scored 20 goals and had 52 points of her own. “It’s a whirlwind,” says Behncke. “I still remember freshman year like it was yesterday, and now it’s almost halfway through my senior year.” An art history major, Behncke worked at Sotheby’s in New York last summer. She is going to try to play professionally in Europe next year, as Negron is now, as she looks to continue her soccer career as long as she can. And after that? “I can’t even think about it,” she says. And then she giggles. And giggles again. And you’re left to wonder how this can possibly be the same person who has made a career at Princeton of scoring the biggest goals and the biggest times.
Varsity Club News
October 2005
PVC Performance, Values, Community
Performance Big Ben, Big Heart • by Craig Sachson Unselfish senior’s position change makes Tigers a better football team
I
t’s one of those adages that go beyond the realm of sports. It’s a true life lesson. Never quit. Never leave a project midway through without seeing it to the finish. Senior Ben Brielmaier came to Princeton with the goal of becoming a top defensive lineman for the Tigers. Midway through, he seemed on the right course. In fact, he had just started his sophomore season on the line and looked like an anchor on the defense for years to come. And then he gave up on the project. He was never to become that dominant defensive lineman. How did his teammates view this? They voted him their captain. That’s what happens when your personal sacrifice, and the eventual hours upon hours of work you do to overcome that sacrifice, helps put your teammates in position for a magical season. Brielmaier spent this first year the way most freshmen do. He stayed afloat. The combination of academics and athletics at Princeton is tough enough to manage for an experienced studentathlete. For a new one, it’s a whole other world. Things were different as a sophomore. He was established early on as a starting defensive tackle, and he was doing well in his classes. The confidence from one assisted the other, and vice versa. Brielmaier didn’t put up massive numbers as a sophomore (11 tackles), but on a line that featured first-team All-Ivy defensive ends Tim Kirby and Joe Weiss, few players were going to put up the numbers. Still, he was now a starter. He was big. He was experienced. He was determined. And he was finished on the defensive line. “They brought it up to me in July,” Brielmaier says of his move to the offensive line. “They left the move open to me. It wasn’t mandated. I was uncertain, because as an upperclassman, I had to learn something new instead of mastering my position.” The graduation of Kevin Manning left a huge hole to fill at left tackle, and the coaching staff knew that the player best served to fill that hole wasn’t wearing one of the white offensive practice jerseys. “We felt he was a big, strong individual that moved well for a man of his size,” head coach Roger Hughes says. “We were going to the 3-4 on defense and, therefore, the demand for larger numbers in the defensive line was reduced. In addition, we felt he would bring a physical presence and toughness to the defensive line.”
Varsity Club News
October 2005
Brielmaier put a lot of thought into the move, and then spoke with several coaches, including offensive line coach Stan Clayton. It was that conversation that convinced him that the move was more than just the best thing for Princeton, but that it could ultimately prove to be the best thing for Brielmaier. “I think a lot of guys want to continue playing football beyond college if they can,” Clayton says. “If the opportunity presents itself, and if they’re able, we’d want to have them in the best position to do that.” His incredible work ethic with Clayton last year allowed him to speed up the learning curve and start immediately on the offensive line. “He is a tireless worker,” Clayton says. “He gives you everything he has. He’s a pleasure to coach, and just a pleasure to be around.” Those personal characteristics went a long way in voting him as co-captain, along with linebacker Justin Stull. “It was a great honor for me,” he says. “It was somewhat of a surprise, since I didn’t have as much experience on the offense and I wasn’t as honed in my technique. I take it very seriously, to be the very best I can be, not only as a player, but as a captain.” His head coach couldn’t have agreed more with the selection. “I think it speaks volumes about his work ethic, his approach to the game and his leadership,” Hughes says. “He has brought a renewed toughness and dedication among the offensive linemen.” You see, it’s one thing to be the kind of person to sacrifice a guaranteed starting role for the good of the team. It’s another to turn that sacrifice into a major success. The future is one big unknown for Brielmaier. He hopes he can get that Ivy League ring, just as he hopes he can play on Sundays next fall. He has done the right things to make both possible. But his present is known. He is a leader to his teammates and a terror to his opponents. He is a representative of the true team effort that Princeton feels could bring home the Ivy League championship.
Valu
Alumni in Suppo D
uring the last fifty years, nearly 10,000 studentathletes have won a varsity letter at Princeton University. In so many ways, large and small, these student-athletes helped create a great tradition built on the fundamental belief that athletics are an integral part of the educational mission of the University. Princeton’s student-athlete alumni represent the largest, most diversified and inclusive group of alumni at the University. Athletic alumni come from all walks of life and all economic, religious and ethnic backgrounds, and their experiences after graduation are equally as diversified. Regardless of their undergraduate major or career choice, they are unified in the belief that the opportunity to compete at the intercollegiate level provided them with experiences and lessons that not only enhanced their experience at Princeton but also strongly influenced their lives as alumni. For decades, alumni, friends and parents have continued to support the great tradition and legacy of Princeton Athletics by contributing their time and resources to Friends’ Groups that support the more than 500 current students who participate in 38 varsity sports. In 1995, however, Director of Athletics Gary Walters ’67 recognized the opportunity to create an alumnidriven entity that, by working in concert with the Friends’ Groups, could enhance the support of current student-athletes as well as celebrate Princeton’s great athletic tradition. In establishing the Princeton Varsity Club (PVC), the goal was to create a resource that spanned across all varsity sports and whose mission would be to implement and support programs that perpetuate and enhance the performance, values and community of Princeton Athletics and the University as a whole. To date, the PVC has sponsored events that include the annual Senior Awards Banquet, the Freshman/ Sophomore Barbecue, Career Nights, the PVC Speaker Series and monthly Coaches’ Luncheons. In the upcoming year, the PVC will implement a series of new initiatives to better help alumni support today’s student-athletes. First, an anonymous gift through the PVC is funding a new, state-of-the-art weight-training facility in Jadwin Gym. Second, the PVC will sponsor a mentoring program and multiple career nights, where student-athletes can leverage the talents and knowledge of alumni to assist in career
PVC Performance, Values, Community
ues
Community ort of the Mission PVC Website Debuts... planning. Finally, the PVC has launched a brand-new website, PrincetonVarsityClub.org, that alumni and Friends’ Groups can utilize to register members and build “team lounges” for friends and teammates, keep current with team events and get involved as student-athlete mentors and supporters of Princeton athletics. As the PVC Board of Directors, our efforts center around three areas:
PERFORMANCE Enhancing the athletic, educational and postgraduate experience of our current student-athletes.
VALUES Acting as stewards who encourage, perpetuate and demonstrate the values derived from intercollegiate competition and the importance of maintaining both academic and athletic standards of excellence
COMMUNITY
Building a spirited collegiality among current and former Princeton varsity athletes and other supporters of Princeton Athletics as part of the long tradition of athletic excellence within Princeton University Together with the team of all student-athlete alumni, we are committed to supporting today’s student-athletes in adding their own chapter to the great legacy of athletics at Princeton. We look forward to supporting their needs, recognizing their efforts and celebrating their successes.
The Princeton Varsity Club Board of Directors Hewes Agnew ’58 Jim Blair ‘61 Gog Boonswang ‘96 Tara Christie ‘97 Ralph DeNunzio ‘53 Ed Glassmeyer ‘63 Emily Goodfellow ‘76 Paul Harris ‘54 Richard Kazmaier ‘52 Bert Kerstetter ‘66 Mike McCaffery ‘75 Richard Prentke ‘67 John Rogers ‘80 Jay Sherrerd ‘52 Marjory Gengler Smith ‘73 Frank Sowinski ‘78
On Sept. 19, 2005, the Princeton Varsity Club launched its brand-new World Wide Web site, www.PrincetonVarsityClub.org, in order to better serve current Princeton studentathletes, alumni and friends of Princeton Athletics. Built around the foundation principles of Performance, Values, and Community, the PVC website features a new online mentoring program and a robust, searchable database that allows current and former Princeton student-athletes to better connect with each other. www.PrincetonVarsityClub.org In addition, the site includes a master event calendar featuring a listing of all athletic department and Friends’ Group events. The site will allow Friends’ Groups to create “team lounges” to help better communicate with and update group members. The site will also feature original content, including an archive of former Princeton student-athlete “testimonials” that will be updated on a regular basis. In order to stay connected with Princeton Athletics and support Princeton student-athletes and alumni, all alumni student-athletes and athletics friends are encouraged to register in the PVC database. Being a registered member of the PVC website gives full access to all website content and allows Friends Groups and the PVC to communicate directly to members. Registered members also have access to the PVC database to help them connect with teammates, classmates and friends. Members of the PVC website will be joining the thousands of alumni student-athletes and friends who support the great legacy and tradition of Princeton Athletics and believe that athletics are an integral part of the educational mission of the University. Username:
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NEW MEMBERS
Michael Spence '66, Hockey & 2001 Nobel Prize Winner in Economics
Excerpts from the acceptance speech of the 2004 Citizen-Athlete Award Recipient: Michael Spence '66 ..."I have been an academic administrator, venture capitalist, and board mem... For More Princeton Athletics Testimonials, click here
Testimonials Awards and Honors Scores and Results PVC News
Speaker Series Faculty Fellows PVC Mission
October 13 Fall PVC Luncheon with the Coaches presented by The Glenmede Trust Company October 15 Inaugural Alumni Weekend (Women's Soccer) October 21 PVC On the Road November 12 Football vs. Yale Pre-Game Reception See All events
Alumni reiterate and support the PVC mission
Charles Ballew
Cross Country
Eileen Powers
Basketball
Garrett Bartolotta
Soccer
Damon McLean
Crew
Craig McCarron
Swimming & Diving
During the last fifty years, nearly 10,000 student-athletes have won a varsity letter at Princeton University. .... More
To implement and support programs that perpetuate and enhance the Performance, Values and Community of Princeton Athletics and the University. The PVC also supports the notion that athletics are an integral part of the educational mission of the University.
Search Alumni Database Mentor Program Tigers in the Community Tigernet Career Services Photo Gallery Contact the PVC
This website is served by the AlumniAthlete Network.
PVC Welcomes Another Year With Frosh-Soph Barbecue The Princeton Varsity Club hosted its first PVC event of the school year, the 2nd Annual FreshmanSophomore Fall Welcome Barbecue, Sept. 12 on the concourse of Princeton Stadium. Kicking off the first full week of classes for freshman and sophomore student-athletes, their team captains and coaches, the Fall Welcome Barbecue provided the first opportunity for all freshman and sophomore athletes to gather in a casual social setting while celebrating the start of the new academic year. The hour-long event included a tasty catered barbecue of hamburgers and hot dogs from University Dining Services, a big-screen projector which featured the famous Senior Student-Athlete salute from the 2004 PVC Senior StudentAthlete Banquet, and lively music to energize the group. Director of Athletics Gary Walters and Varsity StudentAthlete Advisory Committee (VSAAC) President and PVC Student Committee member Weston Powell ‘06 welcomed the over 500 student-athletes in attendance. All student-athletes in attendance received complimentary PVC T-shirts. More photos of the Fall Welcome Barbecue can be found at www.PrincetonVarsityClub.org. Be sure to check the PVC website for the most recent PVC event recaps and photos.
Varsity Club News
October 2005
PVC Testimonial
Carter Marsh Abbott ’97 A PVC Testimonial
M
y experience as a studentathlete at Princeton in women’s lacrosse and soccer prepared me for my career in ways I couldn’t fathom at the time. That life, while busy and demanding, both inspired me and gave me the tools to have a successful career after college. As a history major, a member of the Teacher Preparation Program and an athlete at Princeton, I was fortunate to have a wide variety of experiences, all of which contributed to my choosing a career in education. I was exposed to different types of teaching that broadened my perception of what it means to be a teacher. My professors and coaches were creative, dynamic and engaging; they took the learning out of the traditional classroom that had four walls and books. My thesis advisor turned my carrel into a classroom as I read Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir late into the night, and my coaches used the field to demand excellence, then gave us the tools to achieve it. Even without chalkboards and a lectern, I was learning from excellent teachers. It is this broad definition of teaching that has formed the educational philosophy that guides me in my work as a history teacher, lacrosse coach, and dorm parent. I am just as likely to affect one young person in an after-practice conversation about personal responsibility to the team as I am to spark in another a passion for
the U.S. Constitution. Knowing that I can have an impact in so many different areas of a student’s life is inspiring. Not only did my experiences as a studentathlete at Princeton inspire me to do the job that I do, but they also gave me the tools to do that job effectively. First and foremost, Princeton gave me an unparalleled liberal arts education that I use every day in the history classroom. But beyond that, being a student-athlete gave me skills that I didn’t learn elsewhere. Learning to work within a
The mission of the Princeton Varsity Club is “To implement and support programs that perpetuate and enhance the Performance, Values and Community of Princeton Athletics and the University.”
The Princeton Varsity Club is operated by the Office of Athletic Relations & Marketing, and PVC funds help support the following initiatives: the new PVC website; support for the PVC Senior Student-Athlete Awards Banquet and presentation of PVC sweaters to senior studentathletes; support for Princeton Athletics Friends’ Groups; Career Night, which brings alumni to campus to assist current student-athletes in career planning; the Jake McCandless ’51 PVC Speakers Series; the PVC News, seasonal coaches luncheons, where coaches provide an in-depth analysis of their teams and studentathletes speak about their experiences; “PVC on the Road” events; and the “Tigers in the Community” program.
Performance
Enhancing the educational, athletic and postgraduate experiences of our current student-athletes.
Values
Acting as stewards who encourage, perpetuate and demonstrate the educational values inherent in intercollegiate athletic competition.
Community
building a spirited collegiality among current and former Princeton varsity athletes and other supporters as part of the long tradition of athletic excellence at Princeton.
Varsity Club News
October 2005
For more testimonials by Princeton alumni student-athletes, visit PrincetonVarsityClub.org
team setting where I had to depend on and trust in my teammates to accomplish our team goals was crucial for my development as a teacher, where the community of educators works together to mold a more complete student. Conversely, working and training in solitude was a skill I developed through long off-season training programs and long nights in the carrel. Knowing how to self-motivate and complete the assignment to its fullest without an outside cheering section has served me well in my job, where I am alone up in front of a room of kids who are expecting me to know the answer. Lastly, learning to manage my time efficiently by completing my history reading on a bus to Cornell, or fitting a lift between class and practice so I didn’t miss an evening lecture, has been crucial in my work: one minute I will be at practice, and the next I will be making a presentation in front of the Board of Trustees, both of which I will have had to prepare for within an hour of one another. These are skills I learned while a student-athlete at Princeton. While I know that many student-athletes will not go into education like I have, I hope that they too are inspired by their own teachers, whatever their setting. Because it is my teachers who have inspired me and given me the skills to succeed in life after Princeton. Carter Marsh Abbott ’97, the 1997 Ivy League Women’s Lacrosse Player of the Year, is a history teacher and head girls’ lacrosse coach at The Hill School in Pottstown, Pa.
The Princeton Varsity Club acts in concert with the greater University community that supports the values and ideals of Princeton athletics. While PVC membership is open to all alumni letterwinners and members of Princeton Athletics Friends’ Groups, it is also open to any and all alumni and friends who are interested in supporting the mission of the Princeton Varsity Club. Membership dues are based on a sliding scale tied to year of graduation. for more information, visit our new website at:
www.PrincetonVarsityClub.org
“Tigers in the Community” works with many community partners to reach across borders to educate: to teach values through sport, build character, sportsmanship and intellect. Princeton’s studentathletes and the athletic department recognize that they have the resources and identity which allow for a valuable and meaningful partnership with the community. Tigers in the Community supports the student-athlete in his/her broader educational goals to give back to the community.
Making a Splash
Princeton swimmers train to make others better, not just themselves.
T
he Princeton Family YMCA has a goal that every child in the Princeton community, no matter their situation, will know water safety, be confident in and around water and learn to love water. The Princeton University men’s and women’s swimming & diving teams were more than willing to help the YMCA achieve that goal this past spring during the YMCA’s “Splash Week.” From March 21-24, the Tigers replaced their own workouts with something different. Instead of worrying about their own training, they worked with over 100 young swimmers for an hour each day at Dillon Pool, in the hope that those few hours of instruction would help make the YMCA’s goal a reality. “It was wonderful working with Princeton University and the men’s and women’s swim teams during Splash Week 2005,” says Beth Nagle, the YMCA’s Aquatic Director. “The swimmers were fun, energetic and the perfect role models for our young swimmers.” “Many of our participants and their families expressed how ‘cool’ it was to swim with and be taught by the Princeton University swim teams,” Nagle says. “Without their help, the week would have been impossible to pull off.” “Splash Week” consisted of five stations—swim stations with 10 swimmers each for one-onone learning; one water game station with four swimmers, one safety station with four swimmers and one learning station with four swimmers. After about 15 minutes at each station, Princeton swimmers walked the kids out of the pool area and met the parents and families of their new-found friends. About 15 swimmers from both the men’s and women’s teams at Princeton assisted with the program on each of the four days in March. “It was great to see how much fun the children had while
PVC Tigers in the Community
WHAT THEY SAID... “Teaching swim lessons to children from the Princeton area was very rewarding. It is always an honor to give back to a community that has given me so much during my time at Princeton University.” Kitsie Kerner ’06 “It was amazing to watch kids who wouldn’t even touch the water on day one splashing around on their own by the last lesson.” Catherine Wolpe ’08 “It was awesome to work with kids who hadn’t ever had exposure to swimming. It felt great to see them get comfortable in the water and learn skills that might save their lives, or someone else’s.” Daniel Box ’07
becoming more comfortable in and around the water,” says Christopher Breen ’08, one of the many Princeton swimmers who participated in the program. The program was free for participants, and each child received a free “Y SPLASH” T-shirt as well as handouts that related to the day’s swimming topics. At the end of each day, there were also drawings where each child had the chance to win towels, swim caps, goggles and other fun swim gear, all donated by sponsors.
Varsity Club News
October 2005
PVC Join the Club
Benefits of Membership
Membership Fees
Membership in the varsity Club is open to all letterwinners, alumni, parents and friends of Princeton Athletics. Varsity Club membership benefits include the following: • Varsity Club lapel pin • Subscription to the PVC News • Preand post-game notes via e-mail • Invitations to special events
PVC Endowment Fund
Levels of Support.................................. Class $25..................................................... 2001-05 $75..................................................... 1995-00 $100................................................... 1990-94 $150................................................... 1955-89 $100......................................1954 and earlier $150...................................non-letterwinners
Please consider a gift, in addition to your annual membership, to this new initiative of the Princeton Varsity Club. This fund will be used to build a legacy for the future of Princeton Athletics and its student-athletes.
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Varsity Club News
Varsity Club News
October 2005
October 2005