After a scintillating finish in the Ivy Championships, where men’s swim and dive won their first championship since 2016, the team’s top performers made waves at the NCAA Men’s Swim & Dive Championships, which took place March 26–29 at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, Wash. The Tigers capped off their campaign in thrilling fashion, setting both program and Ivy League records.
The quartet of junior Mitchell Schott, sophomores Arthur Balva and Noah Sech, and first-year Patrick Dinu shattered their previous mark from this year’s Ivy League Championships in the 800-yard freestyle relay, touching the wall at 6:13.71 to finish 20th overall.
“We knew we could be faster going into the meet, and I’m glad we did,” Balva told The Daily Princetonian. “The energy at NCAAs is incredible … At meets like this, the best thing to do is take in the environment and feed off it.”
Dinu, a standout in his first year, made an impressive NCAA debut, competing in both the 400-yard and 800-yard freestyle relays. He ended his season on a high note, breaking his own 100-yard freestyle team record with a time of 42.15 while leading off the 400-yard freestyle relay, which placed 27th.
“I absolutely love the energy from the crowd, which always seems to multiply when a relay is on the line. That energy played a big role in pushing me to break the 100-free team record again,” Dinu said to the ‘Prince.’
Following the 800-yard freestyle relay Wednesday, Thursday’s preliminaries saw sophomore Aidan Wang place 37th in the one-meter diving event and Schott secure a 17th-place finish in the 200-yard individual medley.
Schott and Wang continued their solid performances on Friday, finishing 24th in the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 3:43.83, and 23rd in the three-meter diving prelims with a score of 334.80, respectively.
“Inward 3.5 [meters] is definitely one of my best dives; it’s not very physically demanding, but it requires precise technique and mechanics,” Wang told the ‘Prince.’ “The NCAA Championship is one of the most competitive competitions in the world. But that means it’s more important than ever to just treat it as an everyday practice and stay calm and loose when you step in front of the spotlight.”
Wang also competed on the ten-meter platform, finishing 28th.
Schott, who raced in five events, closed out his competitive performance by placing 28th in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:41.61. Reflecting on the demands of competing in multiple events, Schott emphasized the importance of preparing his body for competition.
“When you’re younger, it feels like your body can do anything, but as you get older, recovery becomes more complicated. The biggest thing for me is getting food in my system immediately after racing to kickstart the recovery process,” Schott said.
For senior diver George Callanan, this championship marked the conclusion of his collegiate career.
“Going into the platform event, I knew these would be the last six dives of my career,” Callanan wrote to the ‘Prince.’ “No matter the outcome, I wanted to be proud of the work I put in over the past seven years.”
He competed on the ten-meter platform on Saturday, finishing 36th in his final NCAA appearance.
Princeton concluded its NCAA campaign with a 27th-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay, as Dinu, Sech, Schott, and senior Brett Feyerick posted a time of 2:51.40.
Looking ahead, Callanan expressed confidence in the program’s future.
“I hope to see Princeton continue developing strong leaders and well-rounded individuals. Our coaches prioritize recruiting the right people, not just the most talented ones, which is why we won the Ivy League Championship this year,” Callanan said. “Even when things didn’t go our way, we stayed resilient and supported each other.”
Chloe Li is a Sports contributor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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