Ivy League Makes Presence Felt at Men’s NCAAs

2022 NCAA DIVISION I MEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• March 23-26, 2022
• McAuley Aquatic Center, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, Georgia (Eastern Daylight Time)
• Prelims 10AM /Finals 6PM
• Short Course Yards (25 yards)
• Live Results
• Official Psych Sheets
• Virtual Championship Program
• SwimSwam Pick Em’s Contest
• Qualified relay teams
• Live stream link

The Ivy League has long had a strong swimming tradition, with former US Olympians like Bobby Hackett, David Berkoff and Nelson Diebel, among others, having all called the Ivy League home. On a team level, Yale was a historic powerhouse under legendary coach Robert Kiphuth, winning four NCAA team titles between 1942 and 1953.

In recent years, much of the Ivy attention has been centered on Harvard’s Dean Farris, but Farris was far from the only Ivy League swimmer making an impact this week, with several Ivy League swimmers breaking League records this meet. In fact, Farris was not the highest individual Ivy League finisher at these championships.

That distinction goes to Penn freshman Matt Fallon, who finished third in the 200 breast in 1:49.16. In the prelims, Fallon broke his own Ivy League record with a 1:49.03, securing him the top seed heading into the final. Fallon also finished in 10th in the 100 breast in 51.57, just off of Alex Evdokimov‘s Ivy League Record..

Harvard’s Umit Gures, a junior from Turkey, also had a top 8 finish this weekend, finishing 8th in the 100 fly in 44.88. In the prelims, Gures broke the Ivy League 100 fly record in a 44.63.

Despite not breaking any Ivy League records, his teammate Dean Farris had a solid meet despite falling short of his lofty 2019 heights, which included 2 individual titles and setting an American Record in the 200 free. Farris finished 7th in the 100 back in 44.68 and 9th in the 100 free in 41.42. He also played a crucial role on all five of the Crimson relays, which contributed massively to the Crimson’s 13th place team finish.

Princeton’s Raunak Khosla, a junior who competed in his home city of Atlanta this weekend, broke the Ivy League Record in both the 200 and 400 IM and the 200 fly this weekend en route to a trio of B final appearances. Khosla finished 12th in the 200 IM with a 1:41.24 and 15th in the 400 IM with a 3:40.83, though he set the League Record in the prelims with a 3:40.04. He broke the  IM records previously held by Penn’s Mark Andrew, a Middletown, Ohio native, while breaking his own 200 fly record in 1:41.07, good for 11th.

Aside from the individual records broken, Harvard also broke four Ivy League relay records this week. Both Harvard’s 200 medley and 200 free relays were the fastest ever from the Ancient Eight and earned a pair of 9th place finishes. Their 200 medley relay swam a 1:22.42, led by a Farris’ 20.36 backstroke and Gures’ 19.81 fly split, while their 200 free relay finished in 1:15.88. The 200 free relay was also led by Farris, who split 18.49, and Gures, who split 18.78 on the anchor leg.

Both of Harvard’s 400 relays also broke Ivy League records. Their 400 medley relay finished 11th in 3:03.24, with the quartet of Farris (44.59), Jared Simpson (51.42), Gures (45.47) and Mahlon Reihman (41.76).The Crimson also broke the 400 free relay in the final race of the meet in 2:48.24, their third 9th place relay of the week. Reihman led off in 42.39, and was followed by Farris (40.51), Marcus Holmquist (42.62) and Raphael Marcoux (42.72).

The Ivy League also was well represented in the diving well this week. Columbia junior Jonathan Suckow, a native of Switzerland, finished 4th in both the 1 meter and 3 meter springboard events. Princeton’s Victor Joseph finished 16th in the platform and Harvard freshman Adam Wesson finished 16th in the 1 meter.

Ivy League Records Broken At 2022 NCAAs

• Matt Fallon (Penn- Freshman): 200 breast (1:49.03)
• Raunak Khosla (Princeton- Junior): 200 IM (1:41.24), 400 IM (3:40.04), 200 fly (1:41.07)
• Umit Gures (Harvard- Junior): 100 fly (44.63)
• Harvard relays: 200 medley relay (1:22.42), 200 free relay (1:15.88), 400 medley relay (3:03.24), 400 free relay (2:48.24).