ITHACA, N.Y. – Competing for the first time in over 600 days, No. 22 Harvard University men's swimming and diving beat Cornell University, 233-65, and Dartmouth College, 219-77, in an Ivy League tri meet on Saturday at Ithaca College's Kelsey Partridge Bird Natatorium in its season opener.
Taking to the pool for competition for the first time since Feb. 29, 2020 – a span of 622 days – the Crimson (2-0, 2-0 Ivy) bested the host Big Red (1-2, 0-2 Ivy) as well as the Big Green (1-3, 1-3 Ivy) behind 14 event wins, 12 second-place finishes, and 13 third-place efforts.
Harvard took the top three spots in 10 different events (200 medley relay, 100 breast, 200 fly, 50 free, 3-meter diving, 200 back, 500 free, 100 fly, 1-meter diving, 200 IM). Sophomore
Cole Kuster (400 IM, 500 free), sophomore
Will Grant (100 back, 200 back), junior
Jared Simpson (100 breast, 200 breast), and senior
Jake Johnson (200 fly, 100 IM) each won two individual events on the day.
Seniors
Raphael Marcoux (50 free),
Mahlon Reihman (100 free), and
Dean Farris (100 fly) added individual event wins in swimming. Farris, Johnson, Reihman, and first-year
Quinn Harron helped the Crimson win the 200 medley relay.
In the diving portion of the meet, first-year
Adam Wesson won the 3-meter event while sophomore
Luke Foster captured the 1-meter event.
Harvard Highlights
- In the 200-yard medley relay, Harvard took the top three spots with the Crimson's "A" team of senior Dean Farris, first-year Quinn Harron, senior Jake Johnson, and senior Mahlon Reihman winning the event in a time of 1:29.49.
- Sophomore Cole Kuster captured the 400-yard individual medley in 3:59.39 while first-year Arik Katz came in third in 4:04.36.
- Harvard claimed the top two spots in the 100-yard backstroke behind sophomore Will Grant (48.45) and first-year Anthony Rincon (48.73). The duo took the same two spots in the 200-yard backstroke in 1:45.41 and 1:47.77 respectively. First-year Cameron Green helped the Crimson sweep the top three spots in the 200 back with a third-place finish of 1:54.17.
- The Crimson swept the two three spots in the 100-yard breaststroke. Junior Jared Simpson (54.82) won the event before first-year Quinn Harron (56.55) and sophomore David Abrahams (56.92) followed.
- Harvard went 1-2-3 in the 200-yard butterfly behind performances from senior Jake Johnson (1:48.51), first-year Ben Littlejohn (1:51.61), and first-year Aayush Deshpande (1:51.75).
- In sweeping the top three spots in the 50-yard freestyle, senior Raphael Marcoux (19.85), senior Dean Farris (19.95), and junior Ryan Linnihan (21.00) came in first, second, and third respectively.
- In 3-meter diving, first-year Adam Wesson won the event with a score of 332.15 while sophomore Luke Foster (314.50) and senior Hal Watts (304.25) followed in second and third. In 1-meter diving, Foster took first (364.90) with Wesson (346.65) and Watts (324.85) following in second and third.
- Senior Mahlon Reihman won the 100-yard freestyle (45.00), and sophomore Marcus Holmquist came in second in 45.29.
- In the 200-yard breaststroke, junior Jared Simpson won the race in 2:01.50 while first-year Quinn Harron placed third in 2:06.43.
- The Crimson came in first, second, and third in the 500-yard freestyle behind sophomore Cole Kuster (4:24.98), sophomore Noah Brune (4:31.42), and first-year Arik Katz (4:31.67).
- Harvard swept the top three spots in the 100-yard butterfly with performances from senior Dean Farris (47.33), first-year Ben Littlejohn (49.22), and senior Raphael Marcoux (50.51).
- In the 200-yard individual medley, senior Jake Johnson (1:50.14) won the event before first-year Aayush Deshpande came in third in 1:53.28.
- In the 200-yard freestyle, sophomore Marcus Holmquist (1:39.34) and first-year Harris Durham (1:39.73) came in second and third respectively.
- Harvard improved to 57-2 all-time vs. Cornell.
- The Crimson bettered its mark to 78-11 all-time vs. Dartmouth.
Next Up
Harvard hosts Columbia University on Friday, Nov. 19 at 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+) at Blodgett Pool in its first home meet since Feb. 29, 2020 – a span of 629 days.
