Of the Ancient Eight, Princeton took the top prize with a score of 1,663.5, easily trumping the 1,311.5 points accumulated by second-place Harvard. Cornell and Yale both broke the 1,000-point mark with scores of 1,095 and 1,033.5, respectively. Columbia edged out Penn 862.5 to 808.5 for fifth place. Rounding out the field were Brown with 616.5 and Dartmouth with 426 points.
“Everything went as well as possible. It was as good [a meet] as it could have been,” senior Mike Carter said. “This is the most incredible season we’ve had in a long time and possibly ever.”
In a demonstration of the raw talent at the three-day meet, 15 of the 19 total swimming events had records shattered: 10 were Ivy League records, three were meet records and two were pool records. Eight of the 15 records came from Princeton swimmers. The Tigers had more than 30 NCAA B-cut swims and three individual and one relay NCAA automatic qualifying times.
Princeton dominated the first event of the evening, setting a Princeton, Ivy league and meet record in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a one minute, 17.93 second time, which currently stands as the 15th fastest time in the nation this season. The Tigers carried that momentum into the 500-yard freestyle, where freshman Travis McNamara clinched a meet record with a time of 4:18.04.
Senior tri-captain Will Schaffer picked up his first individual title in the 200-yard individual medley, outlasting a furious sprint by junior Jonathan Hartmann in the last 50 yards. Hartmann, who was in seventh with 50 yards to go, clocked a 24.17 for his final split, the only sub-25 second split in the freestyle leg, to lock up second place in the event final.
The Princeton 400-yard medley relay team capped off a nearly perfect Thursday session with another Ivy League record, lowering the previous standard by more than two seconds and ensuring a hefty lead in the meet for the Orange and Black.
More records fell on Friday as the Tigers kept up their breakneck pace. Princeton started with three finalists in the 1,000-yard freestyle, followed by four in the 400-yard IM. Sophomore Colin Hanna clinched his first individual title of the meet, using a strong backstroke leg to out-pace second-place finisher Schaffer.
Senior tri-captain Doug Lennox, in one of the most amazing performances of the meet, established his legacy in the 100-yard butterfly with a 45.12-second performance, breaking Ivy, Princeton and pool records. His time is the second fastest in the nation this season and establishes Lennox as one of the top contenders for the NCAA 100-yard butterfly title in a few weeks.
Princeton placed six top-eight finalists in the last three events of Friday evening, including two second-place finishes. The Tigers finished the night with an impressive performance in the 800 -yard freestyle relay. The team of Lennox, Hartman, McNamara and freshman Colin Cordes broke a 10-year-old Ivy League record in a first-place finish.
Princeton showed its depth and talent in the final night of competition, finishing the meet with some of the best swims in program history. Lennox broke his Ivy League record in the 200-yard butterfly championship with a time of 1:42.78.
Of all the weekend’s broken records, none was as impressive as the 200-yard breaststroke record, a 21-year-old Ivy League relic set by John VanSant of the U.S. Military Academy. In fact, the record was set before freshman Jonathan Christensen was even born, but that did little to stop him. More than a second behind after the first 100 yards, Christensen back-halved it and out-split Penn’s Brendan McHugh in the final 50 yards to come up with a record-breaking time of 1:56.42. Princeton put the icing on the cake in the final event, setting another Ivy League record and a 12th-fastest national time in the 400-yard freestyle relay.
The diving squad, led by coach Greg Gunn, dominated in both the one- and three-meter events. Junior Daniel Dickerson picked up two individual titles in each event, along with two NCAA A-cut qualifying standards. Senior Yarden Fraiman also turned in an impressive performance, reaching the championship finals for the first time in his college career, placing sixth in the one-meter event and fourth in the three-meter competition.
The Tigers finished this year’s Ivy League meet with more individual titles than they won in the last three years combined. With the large number of top B-cut times and numerous A-cut times, Princeton will have the chance to send the largest group of swimmers to the NCAA Championship meet in program history.
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