The Princeton Tigers and Yale Bulldogs are in Cambridge, Massachusetts this weekend for the annual double-dual meet known simply as “HYP.” The women’s meet began Friday afternoon at Blodgett Pool and will resume Saturday morning, while the men will swim Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning.
Harvard jumped to an early lead against Princeton and Yale with a strong showing in the 200 medley relay. Danielle Lee (25.60), Stephanie Ferrell (29.03), Daniela Johnson (24.71), and Victoria Chan (24.71) went 1:42.38 to win by more than a body length. Princeton’s Shirley Wang, Olivia Chan, Elsa Welshofer, and Maddy Veith (1:44.38), Harvard’s B team of Kristina Li, Katie Evans, Kendall Crawford, and Gabby Sims (1:44.53), and Yale’s Heidi VanderWel, Elizabeth Larsen, Maddy Zimmerman, and Amy Zhao (1:44.54) all seemed to come in at the same time.
Princeton’s Rebecca Fleming and Cailley Silbert of Yale had put up a pair of 9:58s and Princeton’s Isabel Shipman had gone 10:07.64 in the slower heats of the 1000 earlier in the day, setting the bar for the six women swimming later, none of whom went faster. Fleming and Silbert are the first sub-10s in the Ivy League so far this season.
Harvard dominated the next three events. Margaret Ramsey won the 200 free (1:49.56), followed by Kina Zhou of Yale (1:50.03) and Princeton’s Claire McIlmail (1:50.35). Lee (54.78) and Li (55.55) outpaced Yale’s VanderWel (56.84) and Princeton’s Wang (57.01) in the 100 back. And Ferrell (1:03.88) won the 100 breast over Paulina Kaminski (1:04.55) of Yale and Chan (1:04.90) of Princeton.
At that point in the meet Harvard was up by 23 points over Princeton and by 33 over Yale.
The guests posted the top four times in the 200 fly, though, to make up some ground on their Crimson hosts. Defending Ivy champion, Sydney Hirschi of Yale, won with 2:01.23. She was followed in close succession by Princeton’s Welshofer (2:01.85) and Beverly Nguyen (2:02.53).
The most surprising race of the day was the 50 free, where the Tigers placed four swimmers in the top five. Nikki Larson led the way for Princeton with 23.35; she was followed by Elizabeth McDonald (23.42), Harvard’s Chan (23.49), Veith (23.57), and Katie Diller (23.59).
Princeton, who now led Harvard by 1 point, solidified their position after the 3-meter diving when Caitlin Chambers won with 330.00 points. Harvard’s Jing Leung and Hannah Allchurch were second and third, Princeton’s Lisa Li placed fourth, while defending Ivy champ Lilybet MacRae was fifth.
The evening ended with an exhibition 400 IM. Ashlee Korsberg of Harvard was first to the wall in 4:26.60. Princeton’s Victoria Lepesant followed in 4:28.34, and Harvard’s Willa Wang came in at 4:32.20 for third.
Scores after Day One:
Princeton University 77.00 – 73.00 Harvard University
Harvard University 95.00 – 55.00 Yale University
Princeton University 83.50 – 66.50 Yale University