After seven consecutive years of Crimson dominance, the Tigers have their hands back on the Bob Kiphuth Trophy.
On Saturday, the No. 23 ranked men’s swimming and diving team secured its first Ivy League Swimming and Diving Championship since 2016, Princeton’s 32nd overall, after multiple wins across the board.
The victory is the first after a tumultuous nine-year period that saw the program suspended for the back half of the 2016–17 season for vulgar and offensive posts circulated on its listserv, as well as the hiring of Crispino after the retirement of longtime head coach Rob Orr.
“Winning the championship with the team is amazing,” first-year Patrick Dinu wrote to The Daily Princetonian. “It’s what we set out to do this year, bring home the trophy after eight long years of finishing in second place. We hope we can turn this into a new tradition.”
In addition to the team’s victory, junior Mitchell Schott was named the High Point Swimmer of the Meet after winning three individual events and being part of a gold medal relay, while sophomore Aidan Wang was named the High Point Diver of the Meet.
Before this year, Schott had not won an Ivy League title in an individual event.
‘A’ cut highlights day one for Princeton
The four-day event began with the 200 medley relay. Princeton’s quartet of senior Tyler Hong, Dinu, first-year Logan Noguchi, and senior Brett Feyerick came in sixth place with a time of 1:24.96, less than a second behind Yale’s first place finish. The result was disappointing for the Tigers, who entered the event with the fourth fastest seed time.
Despite the slow start, the Orange and Black bounced back emphatically. In the 800-yard freestyle relay, sophomores Arthur Balva and Noah Sech joined Schott and Dinu as the Tigers finished atop the podium at 6:13.75. Dinu, out-touched Yale’s Noah Millard, setting a school, pool, and meet record that also netted them a ticket to the NCAA championships.
Disqualification derails Orange and Black
In the 500-yard freestyle, Yale’s Millard shattered the Ivy meet and pool record with a 4:07.68 finish. Balva secured second place in 4:17.22, while sophomore Parker Lenoce finished eighth in 4:23.41.
“Coming into tonight, I knew Millard would be really fast, and I didn’t want to be afraid of him at the beginning of the race,” Balva wrote to the ‘Prince.’ “I intentionally pushed myself in front of the rest of the pack the first 200. After that, I knew I was in control of the rest of the field behind me so I made sure that I had enough to close on that last 100.”
Schott highlighted the night with a victory in the 200-yard individual medley (IM), touching the wall in 1:41.44, the second-fastest time in program history.
“He may look invincible this year, that is the result of years of small, daily incremental improvements and a whole bunch of setbacks along the way. I think Mitchell represents everything that is good about Princeton and I’m just proud to be along for his journey,” Crispino said.
On the boards, all three Princeton divers advanced to the A-finals in the one-meter. Aidan Wang secured second place with a score of 363.00, while George Callanan and Luca Fassi finished fourth and fifth, adding key points to Princeton’s total.
However, a major setback came in the final event — the 200-yard freestyle relay. An early takeoff from Schott resulted in a costly disqualification, and the Tigers, who had initially placed third, lost 54 points due to the ruling.
“I waited at the pool with the guys who swam the relay,” Crispino said. “When we got back to the team dinner at the hotel, they had already decided we weren’t going to let it dictate the way the rest of the meet would unfold. The leadership from our seniors and juniors really came to the forefront in that moment.”
Tigers take the lead
After Thursday night’s disqualification, Princeton had work to do ahead of Friday’s seven-event night. Despite only winning one of the seven events, the Tigers’ depth was on full display and allowed them to consistently pick up points throughout the day.
Yale’s Arshak Hambardzumyan took the 1000-yard freestyle, but Princeton had four swimmers finish in the top 13, outscoring Yale by nearly 40 points. First-year Santiago Gutierrez finished fourth.
“I do my best to just let my body do what it knows to help me finish the race as fast as possible,” Gutierrez said.
Similarly, in the 400-yard IM, five Tigers finished in the top 13, highlighted by senior Maxwell Seidel’s bronze medal finish.
The highlight of the night came in the 200-yard freestyle, with Schott inching by Millard to win the event. Dinu finished two seconds behind Schott and Millard to complete the podium and secure valuable points.
“In the last two laps I simply trusted my training and my hard work,” Schott said. “I had confidence in myself, I knew that if we were on the same ground I would take it and that’s what I did.”
In the 100-yard backstroke, four Tigers rounded out the top 12, with Hong coming in second with a time of 46:26. The night ended with the 400-yard medley relay. Despite a staggering six schools breaking the previous pool record from 2016, Princeton’s time of 3:07.90 was good for fourth place.
No. 32
On championship Saturday, the Tigers extended their lead, finishing with 1,330 points en route to their 32nd title. Harvard threatened early with strong performances in the 1,650-yard freestyle and the 200-yard backstroke, taking the lead with five events to go.
The Tigers secured a crucial victory in the 100-yard freestyle, with Dinu touching first at 42.42, following his program-record 42.16 in the prelims. After that event, the three-way race was razor-thin, with Princeton and Harvard tied at 1,038.5 points, while Yale trailed by just one point at 1,037.5.
“I knew the 100 final was going to be a dog fight from start to finish; it always is,” Dinu said. “Going into the last 25, I could not see Deniel [Nankov] as I was breathing to my left, but I could feel him being close. I knew I had to dig deep to win the race.”
In the final three events, Princeton’s depth proved too much to overcome. Schott continued his dominance, winning the 200-yard butterfly in a meet-record 1:40.42, beating Harvard’s David Schmitt by one-tenth of a second. Schott broke a championship record set by former Princeton standout Raunak Khosla ’23.
“Raunak taught me a lot about being a leader by example,” Schott said. “With all of his accolades, he never once let it get to his head or put himself above anybody, he simply performed and helped those around him do the same.”
In diving, Wang successfully defended his three-meter title with a score of 360.60, while sophomore Luca Fassi took third to add to Princeton’s cushion.
“I was very proud of being able to defend the title and was excited to compete in a field with a bunch of my friends,” Wang said. “I am always excited to compete for a team that is so supportive and always pushing me to reach my full potential.”
The final standings saw Princeton narrowly edge out Harvard (1,262.5) and Yale (1,212.5). The gap between first and third place was historically small — the closest margin between the top three teams since 1990.
“The title means so much to so many people,” Crispino said. “It’s a major step in our program’s evolution, but it’s also not the end of the journey.”
“There has been some adversity and change in our program in the last nine years, but through it all our student-athletes and coaches never stopped believing that we would get back to the top. To finally be there is very satisfying.”
The NCAA Championships will take place in Federal Way, Wash. from March 26–29. As of now, the 800-freestyle relay team has qualified.
Hayk Yengibaryan is an associate News editor, senior Sports writer, and Education Director for the ‘Prince.’
Matthew Yi is an assistant Sports editor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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