Harvard Men’s Swimming Places Second in Ivy League Championships

After four days and nights of intense competition, Harvard’s men's swimming and diving team placed second in the Ivy League championship — breaking a seven year win streak. The Crimson, tied with the Tigers as competition neared its completion, ultimately totaled 1262.5 points and fell to Princeton by just 68.

The first three nights of the championship featured a number of tight races, with the Crimson taking second in the 200-yard medley and 200-yard freestyle relays.

The freestyle team of sophomore Sonny Wang, freshman Marre Gattnar, junior David Greeley, and senior Aayush Deshpande qualified for the NCAA A cut with a time of 1:15:53, coming in under a tenth of a second slower than Yale and breaking an Ivy Meet record. Gattnar, who swam on both teams, split sub-19 in each race.

In the 200-yard backstroke final, senior Anthony Rincon took second place, followed by freshman Adriano Ariorti shortly behind him in third. The duo’s performance earned the Crimson 55 points with only five events remaining.

Coming into the championship meet with a 5-2 conference record and a historic winning streak, Harvard uniquely felt the heat of the competition. In front of an electric standing room only crowd on Saturday night with four events remaining, Harvard stood even with Princeton at 1038.5 points, as Yale slotted in just one point behind.

The intensity reached new levels as the final events — the 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard breastroke, 200-yard butterfly, and 400-yard freestyle relay — were pivotal in changing the outcome of the Ivy League Championships. The key events all had a part in keeping Harvard in the running until the very end.

In the 100-yard freestyle final, Crimson swimmers Greeley, Gattnar, and Wang took fifth through seventh place. Freshman Joshua Chen scored 20 more important points for Harvard in the 200-yard breaststroke, finishing first in the B-final and ninth overall.

In the top heat of the 200 meter butterfly, Harvard and Princeton competed with three swimmers each. Sophomore David Schmitt raced off to an early lead, heading the pack after the first 100 yards. As Princeton’s Mitchell Schott narrowed the gap, the Tigers standout and the Crimson’s sophomore went back-and-forth in the final stretch of the race.

Schott’s outstretched hands slammed the wall first — winning by just a tenth of a second — as Schmitt finished with a time of 1:40:52. Freshman Adriano Arioti and senior Ben Littlejohn followed in fifth and eighth place respectively and Princeton took a commanding lead entering the final relay.

In the final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay, Harvard gave a last attempt to close the gap between the Crimson and the Tigers. Wang started the race off strong, but the Bulldogs took a small lead. Gattnar, Greeley, and freshman Evan Croley maintained a neck-and-neck race, but Yale ultimately finished a second ahead of Harvard’s young anchor.

The Crimson returns to action on Mar. 12 when it competes in the NCAA Zone A Diving Championships in Piscataway, N.J.

– Staff Writer Bianca M. Egan can be reached at bianca.egan@thecrimson.com
– Staff Writer Praveen Kumar can be reached at praveen.kumar@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @Praveen4560k