Men’s Swim and Dive Beats Cornell and Penn in First Meet of the Season

Following a scrimmage against MIT two weekends ago, the Harvard men’s swim and dive team (2-0 Ivy League) opened its season with a successful weekend against fellow Ivy League rivals Cornell (0-2) and Penn (1-1).

The Crimson continued its history of success against both schools, clinching numerous first-place finishes as it won the weekend.

“The big thing is it’s about staying present, but also knowing how this stacks up for the future,” associate head coach Daniel Dozier said after the two league victories. “I think that our guys do a great job of locking in when they’re together.”

The 1-meter and 3-meter diving events opened up the weekend and nine Crimson divers prepared to put on their best performances.

Freshman Victor Molin was able to top the chart of the 1-meter event, recording a notable score of 304.15, the 10th-highest score in Harvard program history.

“He has ability to keep things simple when he needs to, so that way he can make actions and corrections where he needs to in practice and have them show up off of dives in the meets,” Harvard’s head diving coach Tracey Bird wrote, describing the rookie’s strengths.

Molin’s success in his first collegiate meet is a strong testament to a bright future for the Crimson’s diving program.

Sophomore Chase Shipp scored a 275.65 to come in fourth place, sandwiching the Big Red’s junior Max Reis-Trovillion and the Quakers’ freshman Tristain Yang.

Harvard sophomore Rem Turatbekov placed 10th with a score of 194.20, and junior William Sullivan entered an exhibition entry. His score did not count towards the Crimson’s total score.

Penn’s Yang topped the chart for the 3-meter event, but Turatbekov and Molin were able to trail right behind with scores of 300.45 and 292.70, respectively, taking second and third for Harvard. Shipp put up a score of 274.65 to claim eighth place, while Sullivan notched another exhibition score of 213.50.

Junior Evan Croley, junior Joshua Chen, freshman Arda Akkoyun, and captain Sonny Wang started off the second day of the meet strong, securing first place in the 200-yard medley relay. Penn and Cornell came in second and third, with a mere 0.06 seconds separating the Big Red and the Quakers.

“The guys have been doing a great job of working on relay chemistry,” Dozier said. “There is a healthy competitive factor between them and the guys that they’re either racing against for a spot or who will be on that relay with them. So there’s been a lot of good things about attacking together, giving each other support, and really feeding off of that.”

The Crimson then swept the podium in the 1000-yard freestyle with sophomore William Mulgrew, sophomore Pablo Martinez, and freshman Mark Iltsisin finishing with the top three times, respectively. In his first official collegiate meet, freshman Konstantinos Geramanis placed 11th.

Mulgrew, a two-time Team USA athlete, has been able to produce stellar results, such as placing first in the 2026 Toyota USA Swimming National Championship in the 1500-meter freestyle. Evidenced by the new pool record he set this weekend, Mulgrew has been able to showcase the same skills on the Ivy League stage.

“Pablo and Mulgrew both under the pool record was also great,” Dozier said. “We’ve been strong there, and we really rely upon those guys.”

The team failed to post the fastest time in the 200-yard freestyle. In the event, senior Tristan Dalbey lagged behind Penn’s junior Eddie Jin by just 1.41 seconds. The Crimson’s freshman David Naydenov was able to place third, followed by freshman George Dovellos in fifth and sophomore William Browne in sixth.

The team struggled to produce strong results in the 100-yard backstroke and breaststroke, with fourth place being the highest finishes for the Crimson. However, it was able to return to the top of the charts promptly after, with Akkoyun, captain David Schmitt, and sophomore Ognjen Pilipovic capturing the three fastest times in the 200-yard butterfly.

The next event, the 50-yard freestyle, also led to a Crimson-swept podium thanks to Wang coming in first, sophomore Marco Miknic in second, and junior Marre Gattnar in third.

Wang put Harvard first in the 100-yard freestyle, while freshman Botond Kovacs and Chen finished second in the 200-yard backstroke and 200-yard breaststroke, respectively.

The Crimson then went on to nearly sweep the podium towards the end of the meet. Although Akkoyun fell a slim 0.19 seconds to Penn in the 200-yard individual medley, Harvard was able to seize first place in the rest of the events of the meet.

Mulgrew, Martinez, and freshman Mark Iltsisin finished as the top three in the 500-yard freestyle.

“To have us go one through three on the 500 and 1000 was really nice,” Dozier said.

Miknic and Schmitt were also able to top the scoreboard in the 100-yard butterfly while Gattnar, Croley, Miknic, and Wang put on a dynamic performance to earn first place in the 400-yard freestyle relay to close out the meet.

The team will now shift its sights to two more Ivy League opponents, Brown and Columbia, which it will compete against on Nov. 14 for its Senior Day. Harvard will then travel to Columbus, Ohio, to compete in the Ohio State Invitational.

“We’re going to be putting forward our best foot against Brown and Columbia, and then from there, get our guys ready to go and recover through OSU,” Dozier said.

—Staff writer Tiffany Oh can be reached at [email protected].