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Men’s Swimming and Diving sinks Navy in home senior meet

mens swimming and diving.jpeg
Seniors of the men’s swimming and diving team celebrating their final home meet. 
Courtesy of goprincetontigers

The Men’s Swimming and Diving Team trounced Navy 208–92 in their senior day dual meet at home this weekend. The Tigers won every event with the exception of one in a dominant exhibition coming out of winter training. Delayed due to COVID-19 complications, the meet was originally scheduled for Jan. 14 and 15.

The women’s team emerged victorious earlier in the day, besting Navy 168.5–129.5 and Columbia 189–99 in a tri-meet.

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The Tigers took control of DeNunzio Pool from the very first whistle. Princeton prevailed despite a strong Navy effort in the opening 200 Medley Relay with a 1:29.57 finish. Sophomore Brian Lou overcame a 00.78 deficit in an epic 19.62 final-leg comeback to secure first place. The relay boasted the Tigers’ impressive depth across class years: first-year Brett Feyerick, junior Josh Brown, and sophomore Nicholas Lim made up the opening three legs.

Junior Dylan Porges maintained the energy through 40 laps in a grueling 1000-yard freestyle, finishing four seconds ahead of Navy’s Garrett McGovern in 9:18.04. Porges continued his distance dominance with a first-place 500 freestyle finish in 4:30.70. The Tigers went on to triumph in every freestyle event, with junior Max Walther winning the 200 in 1:38.94 and the 100 in 45.62, and Lou winning the 50 in 20.58.

First-year Tyler Hong kicked off the backstroke events with a powerful second-half effort to take the 100-yard gold in 48.67. Feyerick finished third in 50.28. Hong and Feyerick followed-up their performances with the top two podium spots in the 200, with Hong dominating Navy’s Nathan Roodzant by over five seconds at 1:46.53 and Feyerick putting up 1:51.70 for second place. Brown and Lou carried the momentum into the breaststroke, besting Navy’s Jackson Schultz in a tight race to take first and second, respectively.

Team captain and junior Raunak Khosla showcased his supremacy in the distance butterfly and individual medley (IM) events, winning the 200 butterfly with a quarter of a second to spare. He thrashed Navy’s Ethan Tack by over five seconds in the 400 IM to win in 3:56.08, with Princeton freshman Hunter Kim taking second in 3:57.38. Hong put up a strong 48.94 to take second in the 100 butterfly to round out the butterfly events.

The divers shone in the far end of DeNunzio. Captain and Senior Colten Young set a new school record in the 3-meter at 406.50. First-year George Callanan and junior Griffin Brooks also achieved top-10 performances in Princeton history at 367.65 (fourth all-time) and 355.20 (sixth all-time), respectively.

Reflecting on his record-shattering 3-meter performance, Young said, “It feels amazing to have broken the three-meter record, not only at our last duel meet at DeNunzio, but especially since it was my senior meet. My teammates, my coaches, and my parents have been so supportive, and it is fun to share this with them!”

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Brooks, Young, and Callanan put up impressive performances at lower height too, taking the top three spots in the 1-meter at 336.83, 329.63, and 313.50, respectively.

The Tigers ended the meet much as they began it, with a first-place relay finish featuring Feyerick, Brown, and Lim, along with junior Max Walther anchoring. The team took 3:00.68, with Brown splitting 45.27, Lim splitting 45.67, Feyerick splitting 45.45, and Walther sealing the deal with a blazing-hot 44.29. The final relay pushed the Tigers over 200 points to keep Navy in double digits, rounding out the wintry evening 208–92.

“We had a great meet on Friday and were able to jump out to a lead and extend it throughout the meet,” said Khosla. “It started off with a great anchor in the 200 medley relay from Brian Lou. Our underclassmen really shined, specifically Lou on the relay and Hong in the 100 and 200 backstroke.”

With the demanding period of winter training complete, the team looks to the championship season ahead.

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“[We’re] looking forward to HYP this coming weekend,” Raunak said. “[Ivy League Championships] are always something special [that] the guys are pumped for.”

Princeton will take on Harvard and Yale in New Haven on Saturday, Jan. 29. Judging by this weekend’s meet, the Tigers are well-positioned for the remainder of the season and in for an exciting championship run.