How do you end a perfect season?
Men’s swimming answered this question by bringing home Princeton’s 31stIvy League title –the squad’s seventh title in the last eight years. And they did so in record-breaking fashion.
While Princeton came home with the win, they trailed behind their rival, Harvard, for most of the meet. But that only made their victory that much sweeter.
Senior co-captain Teo D’Alessandro set the tone for the squad on day one with a remarkable performance in the 200IM. His time of 1:44.33 broke his own Princeton record while securing his third straight 200IM title. Fellow senior Marco Bove also had a strong showing, finishing second. The 1-2 would be crucial as the Tigers tried to close the cap between them and Harvard.
The Orange and Black also got impressive performances from the diving board, where junior Nathan Makarewicz claimed third. The Tigers grabbed second in the 200-freestyle relay.
The Princeton squad clinched enough points on the second day to keep pressure on the Crimson. A Princeton record-breaking performance from junior En-Wei Hu-Van Wright in the 100 Backstroke sparked a 1-2 finish. Sophomore Alexander Lewis claimed second in the event. Other notable swims include sophomore Corey Okubo’s second place finish in the 400IM and the team’s runner up finish in the 200 freestyle relay.
The Tigers kept up the momentum with a huge win in the 800-free relay. The four man squad of D’Alessandro, senior Sandy Bole, junior Julian Mackrel and sophomore Ben Schafer ended the second day by putting Princeton 52.5 points behind Harvard.
While the deficit was still significant, the Tigers were confident heading into the final day. Indeed, the Tigers had three more swimmers than Harvard competing on Saturday. In addition, Princeton had managed to cut their deficit in half and had the momentum moving forward.
However, Harvard was not going to relinquish their lead without a fight. In fact, the Crimson pushed back to start the third day. They lead the Tigers by as much as 116.5 points at one point. Yet, the Tigers persevered as they always have throughout the season.
The comeback came throughout the day, as Princeton swimmers slowly chipped away at Harvard’s lead. Okubo claimed the top spot in the 200 back. Hu-Van Wright claimed his second win of the tournament by sharing the podium with Penn’s Eric Schultz. Bole took third in the event to further advance the Princeton cause.
However, the major turning point did not occur until the 200 fly. Although Harvard claimed first in the events, it would be the Tigers who came out on top overall. Indeed, Princeton managed to grab the second, third, sixth and eighth place finishes.
Suddenly, a win seemed manageable. After trailing Harvard for two and a half days, Princeton broke through and took the lead for the first time in the 19th event. From there, divers senior Noam Altman-Kurosaki and Makarewicz set Princeton up for the perfect finish. By claiming third and fifth respectively, the duo ensured that the Tigers would only need a top two finish to bring home the trophy.
But the Tigers would not settle for second. In an epic 400-freestyle relay, Princeton capped off its comeback with an Ivy League record time of 2:52.06. Needless to say, this sent the Princeton squad watching on the sidelines into an absolute frenzy.
After their first HYP win since 2012 and an undefeated season in the Ivy League, bringing home the Ivy League Championship was the storybook finish the Tigers were looking for. The fact that it was also a come-back story only made their victory sweeter.
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