OMAHA, Neb. – Following five of their teammates who swam during Wave I, an additional six members of the Harvard men's swimming and diving program took the stage during Wave II of the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Swimming that ran from June 13-20 at the CHI Health Center Omaha in Omaha, Neb. The Crimson contingent earned four berths to semifinal swims, one appearance in a final and eight top-16 finishes.
"We are extremely proud of how our student-athletes in both Wave I and Wave II stepped up and represented Harvard" commented the Harvard men's swimming and diving coaching staff. "While we certainly can improve in a lot of ways, we had our highest number of top-16 finishes in program history, with multiple second swims at the biggest meet in the world. Our team is committed to taking our program to the next level and it's a huge credit to the student-athletes and their determination through the pandemic. The growth and experience they have gained throughout the meet is tremendous. We look forward to having them back on campus in just a few short months and working towards our team goals for 2021-22."
Racing kicked off Sunday, June 13 where
Cole Kuster and Arik Katz lined up in the 400m freestyle. Kuster took 20th overall with a 3:52.80 finish, clipping more than three seconds off his entry time. Just behind his teammate, Katz took 26th at 3:54.91. Also on Sunday, Dylan Rhee nearly matched his entry time to the meet with a 1:03.02 (43rd) swim in the 100m breaststroke.
The Crimson saw two more of its pack hit the water Monday in the 100m backstroke. Both Dean Farris and
Will Grant secured the first two semifinal swims for Harvard student-athletes, Farris clocking 54.27 and Grant touching in 53.96 during the morning heats to enter the evening session seeded 14th and ninth, respectively. That night, Farris took 15th overall with a 54.17 swim while Grant placed 11th with a second 53.96 swim.
Wednesday marked the biggest day of racing for Harvard, with five student-athletes lining up at the blocks. Farris opened the day in the 100m freestyle, scraping himself a semifinal lane in an extremely competitive heat, where six of eight swimmers advanced to the evening session. Farris swam 49.07 in the morning and returned with a 49.15 that night for 15th overall.
Daniel Chang and Rhee competed next in the 200m breaststroke, touching the wall at 2:17.69 (45th) and 2:18.35 (46th), respectively. Katz and Kuster closed out competition Wednesday in the 800m freestyle, Katz taking ninth overall with a 7:58.30 and Kuster cutting more than five seconds off his entry time with an 8:02.35 (14th).
Grant returned to the pool on Thursday, swimming 2:00.41 in the 200m backstroke heats, good for 12th and a lane in the semis. That night, he bested his morning swim by more than a second, placing 11th overall with a time of 1:59.09.
In the final days of competition, Farris clocked 52.95 (19th) in the 100m butterfly and 22.68 (30th) in the 50m freestyle while Kuster bested his entry time by almost ten seconds with a 15:29.74 (11th) swim in the 1500m.
Katz was the final Harvard representative to compete on Saturday, placing fifth (15:18.27) in the 1500m freestyle heats to earn a lane in Sunday night's finals of the event. On Sunday, Katz dropped seven seconds off his time from the day before, improving to fourth overall with a 15:11.34 swim.
Harvard's eight top-16 finishes at the trials are the most in program history as the team looks ahead for more in 2024.
