Ivy Title On The Line For Men's Swimming and Diving
Pictured: Alex Meyer captured two event titles at the 2009
Ivy Championships.
Photo Courtesy: David Silverman
The Particulars
The men’s swimming and diving team heads to Princeton, N.J.,
for the 2010 Ivy League Championships March 4-6. Harvard is looking
to capture it 21st league title.
Last Year’s Meet
Harvard took second at the 2009 league championships, totaling
1,311.5 points, second only to Princeton’s 1,663.5. Cornell
finished in third position, edging out Yale with 1095 points at the
meet.
The Crimson had a strong showing in the relay events throughout
the meet, winning one and placing second in two others. Jordan
Diekema, Simone Melillo, Bill Jones ’09 and David Guernsey
’09 combined for a meet-record time of 1:27.61 to capture the
title in the 200-yard medley relay. The quartet also placed second
in the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:12.30. Guernsey, Jones,
Douwe Yntema and Eric Lynch ’09 took second in the 800
freestyle relay, posting a time of 6:30.96.
Alex Meyer led the Crimson with his individual efforts, taking the
title in both the 1,000 and 1,650 free events. Meyer posted a meet
record in the 1,000, swimming a time of 8:57.28, and set a pool
record with a time of 15:01.18 in the 1,650 event. Jones put forth
a strong individual effort as well, taking second in the 100
butterfly with a time of 46.12.
Meet History
Harvard holds the all-time record for team wins at the Ivy
Championships with 20 meet crowns. Princeton is close behind with
18 total titles, followed by Yale (nine), and Penn (one). Brown,
Columbia, Cornell and Dartmouth have yet to claim an Ivy title. At
least a share of the league crown has gone to either Harvard or
Princeton every since 1971 when Penn won the outright title. The
last time another team had a share of the league championship was
in 1993, when Harvard and Yale were co-Ancient Eight champions.
Scouting the Field
Princeton is once again the team to beat entering this
weekend’s competition. Harvard’s lone league dual loss
of the season came at the hands of the Tigers as the Crimson
finished the dual season in second with a 6-1 record. Cornell, Penn
and Columbia finished third, fourth and fifth in the league,
respectively, and all compiled at least six wins during the 2009-10
season.
Last Time Out
A strong effort on the third day of competition fell short as a
portion of the men’s swimming and diving team took second at
the 2010 ECAC Championships, Feb. 28 at Trees Pool. Harvard
finished with 530.5 points for the competition, trailing only Navy
who finished with 673.5.
Jamie Mannion kicked off the Harvard effort on the final day with
a fourth-place finish in the 1,650-yard freestyle, posting a time
of 16:15.43. Greg Pelton followed with a fourth-place finish in the
200 backstroke with a time of 1:51.75, and Nicholas DuCille chipped
in 17 points with a second-place time of 45.60 in the 100 free.
Rick McKellar (1:51.07), Ryan Cutter (1:51.25) and Ross Ford
(1:51.26) finished four-five-six in the 200 butterfly to boost the
Crimson point total. Harvard wrapped up the meet with a win in the
400 free relay as DuCille, Cutter, McKellar and Eric Taylor posted
a time of 3:03.09 to capture the event win.
The last time the entire squad competed was at the HYP meet, Jan.
29-30. Harvard topped Yale, 242-106, but fell to the host Tigers by
a score of 203-150.
On the Horizon
The NCAA Zone A Diving Championships hosted by Rutgers University
will take place March 12-14. The NCAA swimming championships will
be hosted by Purdue two weeks later.
