The Week That Was In College Swimming (Week 6)

Welcome to The Week That Was In College Swimming, where every week we’ll take a look at some of the highlights from around the NCAA.

There were less meets than usual this weekend as teams–especially in Divisions I and II–prepped for their midseason invites. There was still plenty of action though, highlighted by the A3 Performance Invitational and some Ivy League drama.

Invite Season Gets Underway

One of the first invitationals on the calendar, the A3 Performance Invitational, happened over the weekend. Perhaps the most impressive swim at the meet came during Thursday’s time trials, when SIU’s quartet of Mykyta Terentiev, Ruard Van Renen, Alex Santiago, and Donat Csuvarszki blasted 1:17.98 in the 200 free relay. They split 19.95, 19.83, and 19.25, with Csuvarszki bringing them home in a scorching 18.95. It’s a school record for the Salukis, and currently stands as the third fastest time in the nation.

Van Renen, a freshman from South Africa, continued to shine throughout the meet, resetting school records in the 100 and 200 backstroke. He posted 46.27/1:42.88, strong performances especially considering this is his first semester in yards. His 200 back currently sits as sixth-fastest in the NCAA. With his range from backstroke to sprint. freestyle, he’s shown himself to be a valuable pick up for SIU.

For University of Evansville, Riccardo Di Domenico broke the school’s oldest program record. He led off the men’s 400 free relay in 44.77, breaking Olympian Nikola Kalabic‘s record of 44.87. Kalabic’s mark had stood since February 1999–almost 24 years.

St. Cloud Speed

Speaking of invites, at the JoAnn Andregg Invitational, Abe Townley ripped the first sub-20 50 freestyle in Division II this season. The St. Cloud senior ripped 19.96, winning the event. He backed that time up with his 19.87 anchor on the 200 free relay. It’s a big swim for the senior, because while he holds a lifetime best of 19.49 from March 2022, at this meet last year he went 20.64. Last season he dropped to 19.67 from this meet to the Rochester Invitational, which is held the first weekend in December. Will he have a similar jump this year?

At the same meet, Townley’s teammate Raf Hendriks showed some serious backstroke speed. The junior, who hails from the Netherlands, blasted 1:44.59, the fastest time in the division by nearly 2 seconds. It also nears his lifetime best 1:43.38 from his fourth place finish at 2022 NCAAs. In an interesting display of versatility, Hendriks also clocked 4:33.02 in the men’s 500 free, winning by over 15 seconds.

All About the Ivies

Ivy League action kicked off in earnest last weekend. All eight teams were in action, which means that there’s a whole lot of recapping to do.

Let’s get things started with the dual between the Columbia and Yale men, which Columbia won by two points (151-149) by securing second place in the final event of the meet, the men’s 400 free relay. Columbia has gotten off to a strong start this season; earlier in the week, they beat Princeton at home by 10 points. Across both these meets, the early returns for Columbia freshman Adam Wu have been positive: across the two meets (which were his first in yards) he won 5 events including setting a Uris pool record in the 200 fly.

We also got a look at the Harvard men’s and women’s teams, both of which suffered big losses in the off-season: Dean Farris and Felicia Pasadyn. Both teams won this weekend, with the men beating both Cornell and Dartmouth and the women rolling past Brown. The Crimson men won both duals easily (231-68 over Dartmouth and 211.5-88.5 over Cornell), setting four pool records in the process. Backstroker Will Grant set two of those records, hitting 47.58 in the 100 and 1:45.56 in the 200. On Friday November 18, they’ll face the red-hot Columbia Lions.

For the Crimson women, it was freshman Anya Mostek who impressed in her collegiate debut against Brown. She won three individual events: the 100 back, 200 back, and 200 IM. In the 100 back, she popped 53.22, which is just .02 off her lifetime best. In all, Harvard won 12 events, a dominant showing for the defending Ivy League Champs. Despite suffering a loss to the Crimson, the Brown women have looked strong so far this season, cruising past Penn in their dual the day after facing Harvard.

Odds and Ends

• Jack Hoagland continues to impress in his return to competition after missing the 2021-22 season. Though Notre Dame lost to Louisville, Hoagland won 2 events in his second meet of the season, the 500 and 1000 freestyle. In the 500, he swam 4:23.31 for an NCAA ‘B’ cut and a season-best–about a second and a half faster than he went three weeks ago.
• Heading into mid-season invites, we’ve made a list of all the swimmers from the top 25 teams who are still undefeated. There are 17 of them, including the likes of Leon Marchand, Maggie MacNeil, and Gretchen Walsh. Let us know who you think will still be undefeated after their invite, and if you think any could extend their streak for the entire season.

Notable Meet Results

Louisville vs. Notre Dame

• Full Results
• Final Scores:
  • Men: #15 Louisville – 172 vs. #23 Notre Dame – 128
  • Women: #6 Louisville – 191 vs. Notre Dame 109

Harvard vs. Cornell vs. Dartmouth (Men) 

• SwimSwam Recap
• Full Results
• Final Scores
  • Harvard 231 vs. Dartmouth 68
  • Harvard 211.5 vs. Cornell 88.5
  • Cornell 186.5 vs. Dartmouth 113.5

Penn vs. Brown

• SwimSwam Recap
• Full Results
• Final Scores
  • Women: Brown 220.5 vs. Penn 79.5
  • Men: Penn 150.5 vs. Brown 149.5

Columbia vs. Yale

• Full Results
• Final Scores
  • #22 Columbia – 151 vs. Yale – 149