Men's Swimming: Princeton looks for 3rd straight title

Princeton will try to exact revenge against Harvard after losing to the Crimson at the Harvard-Yale-Princeton meet earlier in the season. At the time, competing against a rested team, the tired Tigers fought through many events. Though Princeton won all the relays, the Crimson still triumphed with a final score of 189 to 164.

A week later, the Tigers were back on the blocks fighting against another tough team: the Naval Academy. Not only were the Tigers fighting for a victory, they were also fighting to extend their winning streak in DeNunzio Pool to 92 consecutive dual meets. Since its opening, the Tigers had not lost a single dual meet at the pool. Princeton fought throughout the entire meet, picking up wins in both relays, but did not have enough to hold off the fast Midshipmen.

Despite those two losses, the Tigers are fired up for this weekend. Due to a recent illness of freshman Daniel Hasler, who became the subject of a team-wide video that has recently gone viral, the men found extra motivation to win the title for him. With depth in the freestyle events, Princeton hopes to defend its Ivy League title and win its third straight conference meet.

Junior Colin Cordes enters the meet among the top eight seeds in four individual events: the 50-, 100-, and 200-yard freestyle, and 200-yard backstroke. Fellow junior Jon Christensen joins him in the rankings with three top-eight seeds, in the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke and 200-yard individual medley.

Senior tri-captain Colin Hanna has also been strong in the medley for the past three years and will be a huge contender in both the 200- and 400-yard IM. Another senior tri-captain, Geoff Faux, and junior Matt LaMonaca will contribute to the sprint and relay events, competing against tough competitors such as Columbia’s Adam Powell. Geoff Faux was a NCAA qualifier in the 50-yard free last year and is looking to qualify again this year.

The Tigers also have some of the league’s top times in butterfly and backstroke. Junior Charley Wang is the leader in the 100-yard fly with a time of 48.53 seconds, while juniors Michael Monovoukas and Adlai Pappy are sixth and ninth, respectively. Sophomore Kaspar Raigla, the silver medalist in the 100-yard backstroke last year, is looking to compete for the title again this year, boasting a current time of 49.97 seconds.

Although it will be without Hasler, the freshman class will have a big impact, especially in the breaststroke. Both KJ Park and Eric Materniak are seeded in the top 10 in both breaststroke events. Rookies Adam Lebovitz and Nick Beaulieu are also currently ranked fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 200-yard backstroke.

Sophomore diver Stevie Vines is back on the boards, competing against classmate Michael Stanton of Harvard. Last year, Stanton claimed the title in both the one- and three-meter boards, with Vines coming in second. The Tigers will resume their rivalry with the help of freshman Mark O’Connell and junior Tom Wells.

With some much competition from all teams, the title should be hotly contested. Fans can follow the competition live online at www.ivyleaguesports.com.