M. Swimming Avenges 2005 Loss

While most of the Harvard community focused on the happenings in New Haven this weekend, the Crimson men’s swimming and diving team made a statement of its own in defeating league foe Columbia, 195-105.

Harvard now heads into the Thanksgiving holiday with a perfect 3-0 record.

Last week, the Crimson snagged league victories over Cornell and Dartmouth by using its depth. Harvard won fewer events than the Big Red, but it managed to gain the edge in points by grabbing several second and third places.

This weekend, however, the Crimson swimmers touched the wall first in 12 of 16 races, allowing Harvard to cruise to an easy victory over the Lions.

The Crimson divers wasted no time in putting Harvard on the scoreboard, as senior Lucas Sanders won both the one- and three-meter events with scores of 290.85 and 276.15, respectively. Freshman Zac Ranta took second place in both events.

Armed with diving depth it has not had in the last few years, the Crimson has six divers this year to back up the consistent Sanders.

The 200 medley team built on the divers’ momentum by taking first in the first race of the day.

“Last week, we started slow,” co-captain Sam Wollner said. “We lost the first relay and then didn’t hit our stride midway through the meet. This week, we came in knowing that we had to hit from the get-go. We won the medley and almost got second [as well], which really got the ball rolling. It was nice to come in swinging, instead of having a feeling of desperation.”

The Crimson also gained revenge for the demoralizing upset it suffered at the hands of the Lions on its last trip to New York in 2005. That loss broke Harvard’s streak of 12 dual-meet victories and represented the first time Columbia defeated the Crimson since 1989. This time, Harvard left no room for error in meticulously dismantling the Lions.

“Two years ago, it was really disheartening,” co-captain Geoff Rathgeber said. “We hung our heads the whole meet, and it was an awful, awful experience. We had a bitter taste and wanted to prove that we were capable of getting the job done, even with the distractions of midterms and Harvard-Yale. Our focus and intensity—everything was spot-on in terms of that.”

The Crimson wore black caps for the meet, a move it usually reserves for crucial or championship meets. The move, Wollner said, provided a “symbolic token” to inspire the team.

Judging from the results, the move paid dividends. Rathgeber and freshman Derick Chui each won three events, while Wollner and junior Eric Lynch each grabbed two more. Wollner, a Manhattan native, won the 200 and 400 freestyles by only tenths of a second in front of a hometown crowd.

“The loss at Columbia [two years ago] was really embarrassing for me especially—it was in front of a hometown crowd, and I lost a really close race at the end,” Wollner said. “This year, I pulled out two very close races, which was very redeeming.”

The distance swimmers had an impressive performance as well. Led by Lynch, who nailed two victories, the Crimson swimmers grabbed the top three spots in the 1000 freestyle and the top four in the 500.

Harvard also benefited from a strong freshman class. In addition to Chui and Ranta, freshmen Justin Davidson, Jordan Diekema, and Mike Polino also had solid performances this weekend.

The Crimson will next compete at the Georgia Invitational, a three-day meet beginning on Nov. 30 that will provide an opportunity for Harvard to measure itself against the rest of the nation’s colleges. The Crimson will not face a league opponent in a dual meet until it travels to Navy on Jan. 5.

—Staff writer Julie R.S. Fogarty can be reached at fogarty2@fas.harvard.edu.