2015 Ivy League Men’s Swimming & Diving Championships
- Dates: Thursday, February 26 – Saturday, February 28, 2015; prelims 11am, finals 6pm
- Location: DeNunzio Pool, Princeton, New Jersey (Eastern Time Zone)
- Defending Champions: Harvard (results)
- Live Results: Available
- Live Video: Available
- Championship Central
Day Two of the 2015 Ivy League men’s championships was about as exciting a meet as they come, with four conference records going down out of eight events swum. Princeton extended its lead over second-place Harvard, while Yale and Penn continued their protracted battle for third. Cornell and Brown both had great performances and are within 27 points of each other headed into the final day of competition. Dartmouth had some excellent swims. And Columbia’s star shone brightly as senior David Jakl pulled off the 100 fly/back double, setting the conference record in the latter.
200 Medley Relay
Princeton won its third relay of the meet with a 1:24.95 effort in the 200 medley relay from Michael Strand (21.50), Jack Pohlmann (23.67), Connor Maher (20.96), and Harrison Wagner (18.82). Wagner’s 18.82 on the end of that relay is faster than anyone’s anchor at B1G Championships or at Big 12s, just two of the other conference meets going on this weekend. Princeton broke the meet record, Ivy record, and pool record and came in under the NCAA “A” standard for the second time in the meet.
Columbia (David Jakl, Stanley Wong, Kevin Frifeldt, and Alex Ngan) placed secon in 1:27.12, further lowering their own school record by more than two seconds. Harvard (Jack Manchester, Shane McNamara, Steven Tan, and Griffin Schumacher) went 1:27.14 for third.
Chris Swanson of Penn broke Tony Corbisiero’s 33-year-old Ivy League record in the 1000 free at the 2015 Ivy League men’s championships. Photo: Brian McDonald
1000 Freestyle
Penn distance standout Chris Swanson, who won the 500 free on Thursday and both the 500 and 1650 in 2014 but who had never won the 1000 at Ivies, finally completed his distance free trifecta. And he broke the meet and conference record in the process. The Ivy League mark had been on the books since 1982 when Columbia’s Tony Corbisiero went a seemingly-unbreakable 8:52.75. It’s taken 33 years but Swanson lowered the Ivy bar to 8:49.55. Corbisiero had come to the meet, fully expecting to watch his record go down, and he was all smiles when Swanson came to the wall.
Yale’s Brian Hogan, the defending champion in the event, was second with 8:54.32, which would have been a pool record if not for Swanson. Penn freshman Taylor Uselis came in third, touching in 9:02.89. Harvard freshman Jack Boyd, who had clocked the fastest time in the earlier heats, placed fourth with 9:04.18.
The rest of the top eight was made up of Yale’s Ben Lerude (9:05.52), Zachary Ridout of Princeton (9:05.71), Brandon Sweezer of Cornell (9:08.03), and Columbia’s Nikita Bondarenko (9:08.07).
400 Individual Medley
An exciting prelims swim had set this final up to be a fast one. Sam Smiddy and Corey Okubo of Princeton, the only two Tigers in the event, had gone 1-2, both finishing under teammate’s Teo D’Alessandro’s pool mark, with Smiddy getting new record by 3/100 with 3:45.85. In finals, Okubo was out faster than in the morning, and had built up nearly a three-second lead over the field by the 200. Harvard’s Christian Carbone caught up to Smiddy on the breaststroke leg, but Smiddy closed with a strong 100 free to pick up second place in 3:45.62. Yeager took third in 3:46.76.
Freshman Kei Hyogo of Yale was fourth with a new school record of 3:46.95. Columbia freshman Jae Park took fifth with 3:49.24. Penn’s Grant Proctor (3:49.44), Christian Yeager of Harvard (3:49.47), and Kevin Quinn of Columbia (3:49.88) rounded out the podium.
100 Butterfly
Having finished second to Brown’s now-graduated Tommy Glenn the last two years in a row, Columbia senior David Jakl’s turn was up. Jakl set it up with the fastest prelims swim, a personal-best 46.27 that lowered his own Columbia record. In finals, Jakl took it out a little faster and brought it home a little faster, finishing first in 46.05 and missing the NCAA “A” cut by .14.
Max Yakubovich of Harvard was second with 46.88, narrowly beating freshman Zach Buerger of Princeton (46.99). Columbia senior Alex Ngan went 47.46 for fourth, just ahead of teammate Terri Li (47.64). Harvard’s Steven Tan (47.89), Yale’s Mike Lazris (48.12), and Michael Wen of Penn (48.65) made up the rest of that final.
200 Freestyle
Penn junior Eric Schultz, who was runner-up in the 50 free on Thursday, jumped out to get an early lead on top qualifier Teo D’Alessandro of Princeton in the final of the 200 free. The only one anywhere near Schultz at the 100 was Harvard’s Spenser Goodman. D’Alessandro was in sixth heading into the second half of the race. Schultz let up on his front-half speed over the second half of the race but had built up such a lead over the field that he was untouchable. Schultz got the win in 1:34.80. Meanwhile, D’Alessandro began to pick off competitors one by one until he was alone in second place. He had by far the strongest second half in the field and finished in 1:35.63.
Yale’s Rob Harder took third in 1:36.05, ahead of Aly Abdel Khalik of Harvard (1:36.40), Goodman (1:36.45), Princeton’s David Paulk (1:37.14), Sandy Bole of Princeton (1:37.15), and Penn’s Dillon McHugh (1:37.42).
100 breast podium at 2015 Ivy League championships. Photo: Brian McDonald
100 Breaststroke
Cornell’s Alex Evdokimov improved on the lifetime-best 53.44 he went in prelims to win the Ivy crown with 53.12. Princeton’s Byron Sanborn and Jack Pohlmann did their best to chase down the freshman from Cornell but ended up second and third, respectively, with 53:41 and 53.47.
Shane McNamara of Harvard (53.71), Cole Hurwitz of Penn (54.06), Ronald Tsui of Yale (54.28 for a school record), his teammate Andrew Heymann (54.29), and Kyle Yu of Penn (54.68) completed the championship final.
100 Backstroke
Fresh off his 100 fly victory, Columbia’s Jakl was doubly motivated to get the 100 back crown as well. Michael Strand of Princeton had earned lane four thanks to his top time in prelims, while Jakl was seeded second for finals. Jakl took off with Strand but just blew away the field over the second 50. He finished with the meet, conference, and pool record; the first Ivy sub-46, 45.98. Strand went 46.47 for second. Cornell sophomore Dylan Sali placed third in 46.82, adding yet another A-final performance to the Big Red’s tally for the night. James Verhagen of Dartmouth took fourth with 47.64. The rest of the final consisted of Jack Manchester of Harvard (47.84), Maher of Princeton (47.97), Yale’s Alex Schultz (48.26), and Harvard’s Tan (48.40).
800 Freestyle Relay
Princeton made it four-for-four with a win in the 800 free relay. D’Alessandro (1:35.93), Bole (1:36.55), Maher (1:36.36), and Buerger (1:36.55) combined for 6:25.39. Yale’s Hogan, Harder, Jonathan Rutter, and Hyogo came in just behind Princeton at 6:26.94, while Harvard (Goodman, Abdel Khalik, Paul O’Hara, and Boyd) picked up third with 6:32.74.
Standings After Day Two
- Princeton University 1026
- Harvard Men’s Swimming 874.5
- Yale University 764
- University of Pennsylvania 725.5
- Columbia University 636
- Cornell University 450
- Brown University 413
- Dartmouth College 289
Since it isn’t specified, Okubo won the 400 IM in finals with a Meet, Conference, and Pool record of 3:43.95
What will columbia do next year? Quin and Jakl are out, who will replace them in the 100s and 200s fly, back?