Princeton swimming and diving hosts Big Al Invitational

This Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (Dec. 1 through 3), Princeton will be hosting the Big Al Invitational for men’s and women’s swimming and diving at DeNunzio Pool. This invitational is one of the biggest early-season collegiate swimming and diving meets. Moreover, Princeton will be facing many teams that it has not yet competed against — seventeen teams, nine women’s and eight men’s, will be traveling to compete in Princeton this weekend. The women’s teams are Brown, Dartmouth, Rutgers, William & Mary, University of Miami, Johns Hopkins, Rider University, Villanova, and Princeton. The men’s teams competing are Brown, Columbia, Dartmouth, Johns Hopkins, Rider, Rutgers, Villanova, and William & Mary. Both swimming and diving will take place during all three days of the invitational.

Each day of competition will include a morning prelims session and a finals session in the evening. Prelims will begin at 10 a.m. on Friday and Saturday with finals starting at 6 p.m. these two days. Sunday prelims will begin at 9 a.m., with finals starting at 5 p.m.

Princeton’s women’s swimming and diving team is currently 4–2 overall and 2–0 in conference. Of the teams traveling to compete this weekend, the women’s team found a win over University of Miami on Nov. 3 (198.5–100.5) but has not faced any of the other teams. During their Ivy League opener Nov. 18, the Tigers beat both Cornell University (233–67) and University of Pennsylvania (182–118). The women could potentially see strong performances from first-years on the team who have proven themselves. First-years Jenny Ma, Courtney Tseng, and Regan Barney have all picked up top five places in their events recently. First-years Sophia Peifer and Sine Scribbick could also contribute to Princeton’s scores with their diving performances. Juniors Isabel Reis and Joanna Curry had strong performances during their Ivy League opener and could additionally help lead the Tigers to a win.

The men’s swimming and diving team is 3–2 overall while maintaining an undefeated record of 2–0 in its conference. The men’s team has not faced any of the teams traveling to them this weekend but in their Ivy League opener Nov. 17, the men beat both University of Pennsylvania (157–143) and Cornell University (259.5–40.5). The men’s team had some incredible performances at the Ivy League Opener by first-year Colten Young, who swept his two diving events during the weekend. For swimming, junior Cole Buese stood out with his win in the 200 back and his second-place position in the 200 fly. The first-years on the swim team stood out during the opener. First-year Levy Nathan won the 500 free, while first-year Corey Lau won the 100 breast, barely beating the second-place winner, junior Tyler Lin.

Great things could come out of the matchups this weekend. The entire invitational will be live streamed on the Ivy League Network and live results of all sessions will be posted throughout the weekend.