2018 Men’s Ivy League Championships: Day 3 Finals Live Recap

2018 MEN’S IVY LEAGUE SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Wednesday, February 21 – Saturday, February 24
• Prelims 11 a.m./Finals 6 p.m.
• DeNunzio Pool, Princeton, NJ
• Defending Champion: Harvard (results)
• Live Results
• Live Video
• Championship Central
• NCAA Qualifying

The 2018 Men’s Ivy League Championships continue tonight in Princeton, New Jersey. Swimmers are set to compete individually in the 1000 free, 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast, and 100 back. We’ll also see finals of the 400 medley relay. After a strong showing in the 500 free yesterday, Harvard’s Brennan Novak will race in the 1000 free tonight. Teammate Dean Farris headlines the 200 free (1:34.56) and 100 back (45.03) after leading both in prelims. Another Harvard man, Steven Tan, is the top seed in the 100 fly (45.87). Columbia’s Jae Park will take to the lane 4 in the 400 IM (3:48.08), while Cornell’s Alex Evdokimov is the fastest man going into the 100 breast (52.76) final.

MEN’S 1000 FREE:

• Ivy League Meet Record: 8:49.45, Kei Hyogo (Yale), 2017

1. GOLD: Brennan Novak, Harvard, 8:46.99
2. SILVER: Logan Houck, Harvard, 8:48.80
3. BRONZE: Will Thomas, Penn, 8:57.55

Harvard’s Brennan Novak is 2-for-2 in the distance freestyles. He took down another Meet Record, knocking 2 and a half seconds from the previous mark. Teammate Logan Houck secured another 1-2 finish for the Crimson distance duo. Penn freshamn Will Thomas battled with teammate Taylor Uselis (8:59.11) and Harvard’s Zach Snyder (8:58.18) for the bronze. Thomas threw down a 24.34 down the final stretch to take the edge, hitting the wall ahead of Snyder and Uselis.

MEN’S 400 IM:

• Ivy League Meet Record: 3:43.28, Mark Andrew (Penn), 2017
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 3:39.35
• 2017 NCAA Invite Time: 3:44.92

1. GOLD: Mark Andrew, Penn, 3:41.95
2. SILVER: Kei Hyogo, Yale, 3:43.16
3. BRONZE: Jae Park, Columbia, 3:45.79

Penn’s Mark Andrew set the pace early on, leading by nearly a second at the halfway mark and never looking back. That time for Andrew was just 6 hundredths shy of his lifetime best from last season’s NCAA meet. Andrew and Yale’s Kei Hyogo should be safely into NCAAs in this event. Hyogo trailed Columbia’s Jae Park after the breast leg, but hammered home in 50.76 to secure the silver. That marked a lifetime best for Hyogo by nearly 2 seconds and a best for Park by over 3 seconds. Yale’s Jonathan Rutter joined them below 3:50, hitting the wall in 3:47.26 for 4th place.

MEN’S 100 FLY:

• Ivy League Meet Record: 45.12, Doug Lennox (Princeton), 2009
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 45.49
• 2017 NCAA Invite Time: 46.10

1. GOLD: Steven Tan, Harvard, 46.21
2. SILVER: Ben Schafer, Princeton, 46.80
3. BRONZE: Kevin Frifeldt, Columbia, 46.90

Harvard’s Steven Tan didn’t match his prelims time, but still won by over half a second tonight. He was out in a quick 21.08, but faded some on the back half in 25.13. With his 45.87 from prelims, Tan has a pretty strong shot at qualifying for NCAAs. Princeton’s Ben Schafer had the fastest back half of the field, a 24.76, to come from behind and clip Columbia’s Kevin Frifeldt for the silver. Princeton’s Zach Buerger also used his back-half speed to his advantage, running down teammate Cole Buese to out-touch Buese 47.01 to 47.13 for 4th place.

MEN’S 200 FREE:

• Ivy League Meet Record: 1:31.56, Dean Farris (Harvard), 2017
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:32.54
• 2017 NCAA Invite Time: 1:34.20

1. GOLD: Dean Farris, Harvard, 1:31.12
2. SILVER: Adrian Lin, Yale, 1:34.26
3. BRONZE: Michal Zyla, Columbia, 1:35.31

Dean Farris is now the 4th fastest man in history. Farris blazed to a 44.42 through the halfway mark, extending his lead on the back half en route to a blistering 1:31.12. Farris took down his own Meet Record by half a second. Yale’s Adrian Lin secured the silver, while Columbia’s Michal Zyla battled Princeton’s Murphy McQuet and Harvard’s Mahlon Reihman for bronze. Reihman (1:35.91) had the early speed, but Zyla and McQuet (1:35.56) were able to run him down on the final 50.

MEN’S 100 BREAST:

• Ivy League Meet Record: 52.13, Alex Evdokimov (Cornell), 2017
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 51.74
• 2017 NCAA Invite Time: 52.62

1. GOLD: Alex Evdokimov, Cornell, 51.85
2. SILVER: Daniel Chang, Harvard, 53.82
3. BRONZE: Dorje Wu, Yale, 53.90

Cornell’s Alex Evdokimov put on a dominant show, taking it out in 24.37 en route to a new Meet Record. That marked his first swim sub-52 and a best time by about 3 tenths. Yale’s Dorje Wu was in the hunt for silver up front, but Harvard’s Daniel Chang brought it home in 28.16 to out-touch him as they rounded out the podium. Columbia’s Jack Smith almost got there as well, but ran out of room as he touched 4th in 54.05.

MEN’S 100 BACK:

• Ivy League Meet Record: 45.03, Dean Farris (Harvard), 2018
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 45.25
• 2017 NCAA Invite Time: 46.28

1. GOLD: Dean Farris, Harvard, 44.81
2. SILVER: Mark Blinstrub, Penn, 46.69
3. BRONZE: Alexander Lewis, Princeton, 47.14

Minutes after his blistering 200 free, Harvard’s Dean Farris took down another Meet Record in the 100 back. Farris charged to a 21.67 split on the way to a 44.81. That swim puts him just 6 hundredths shy of the All-Time Top 10 Performers list in the 100 back. Mark Blinstrub of Princeton was the only other swimmer to break 47 seconds, while Princeton teammates Alexander Lewis and Cole Buese battled for bronze. Lewis took the edge by a couple of tenths on the front end, slightly extending that lead as he clipped Buese (47.54) for the final podium spot.

MEN’S 400 MEDLEY RELAY:

• Ivy League Meet Record: 3:06.98, Harvard, 2017
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 3:07.46

1. GOLD: Harvard, 3:07.83
2. SILVER: Princeton, 3:10.96
3. BRONZE: Columbia, 3:12.05

Harvard’s Dean Farris was just .02 shy of his time from the individual 100 back, leading off in a quick 44.83. He teamed up with Daniel Chang (breast- 53.71), Steven Tan (fly- 45.98), and Raphael Marcoux (free- 43.31) as they dominated the field by 3 seconds. Faris and Tan were the fastest of the field in their respective strokes. The fastest breast split of the field came from Cornell’s Alex Evdokimov (51.47), while the fastest free split came from Yale’s Aaron Greenberg (42.80).