2023 Ivy League Men’s Championships: Day 3 Finals Live Recap

2023 Men’s Ivy League Swimming & Diving Championships

FRIDAY EVENING HEAT SHEETS

Scores After Day 2

  1. Harvard – 565
  2. Princeton – 552.5
  3. Yale – 377.5
  4. Columbia – 295
  5. Brown – 272
  6. Penn – 248
  7. Cornell – 210
  8. Dartmouth – 170

Harvard and Princeton are expected to be within a few points of each other at the end of Day 3. Cole Kuster of Harvard, fourth in the 1000 last year, put up the fastest time in prelims by a good measure and could add to Harvard’s 1000 free podium. The Crimson also have the top seeds in the 100 fly (Umit Gures) and 100 back (Gunner Grant) tonight. Princeton has a top seed in Raunak Khosla, who is looking to win his third career Ivy title in the 400 IM. Yale’s Noah Millard, who won the 500 free last night, will be in lane 4 of the 200 free championship final tonight, and Brown’s Jack Kelly is the top seed in the 100 breast with a new pool record of 52.08.

Men’s 1000 Freestyle – Fastest Heat

  • Ivy League Meet Record: 8:46.99 – Brennan Novak, Harvard (2018)
  • Pool Record: 8:47.78 – Brennan Novak, Harvard (2019)

Podium:

  1. Adam Wu, Columbia – 8:51.64
  2. Cole Kuster, Harvard – 8:54.25
  3. John Ehling, Princeton – 8:54.78
  4. Dylan Porges, Princeton – 8:57.14
  5. Aidan Wilson, Brown – 9:00.90
  6. Shane Washart, Harvard – 9:01.30
  7. Simon Lamar, Harvard – 9:03.14
  8. Max Hardart, Brown – 9:04.68

Adam Wu of Columbia broke one of Columbia’s oldest records on the books, that of Tony Corbisiero in the 1000 free. Swimming in lane 8 of the fastest heat, he traded leads with Princeton’s John Ehling, the top seed in lane 4, before breaking out at the 800 and descending over the final 200 yards. At the end, he won by three full seconds, stopping the clock at 8:51.64.

Ehling and his teammate Dylan Porges finished second (8:54.78) and third (8:57.14) in the heat, ahead of Harvard’s Shane Washart and Simon Lamar.

Harvard’s Cole Kuster, who placed fourth last year, went 6 seconds better than his 2022 performance to post the top time of the afternoon heats with 8:54.25. Brown’s Aidan Wilson (9:00.09) and Max Hardart (9:04.68) finished second and third.

Men’s 100 Butterfly – Finals

  • Ivy League Meet Record: 44.89 – Umit Gures, Harvard (2022)
  • Pool Record: 45.58: Umit Gures, Harvard (2019)
  • NCAA A Standard: 44.82
  • 2022 NCAA Invite Time: 45.57

Podium:

  1. Umit Gures, Harvard – 44.91
  2. Connor Lee, Yale – 45.52
  3. Nicholas Lim, Princeton – 45.87
  4. Aayush Deshpande, Harvard – 46.57
  5. Brian Lee, Columbia – 46.60
  6. Marcus Hodgson, Yale – 46.67
  7. Benjamin Feldman, Penn – 47.23
  8. Conor McKenna, Princeton – 47.59

Umit Gures of Harvard successfully defended his 100 fly title, breaking the pool record and coming with .02 of his own meet record, with 44.91. Gures becomes a rare four-time Ivy champion, having also won this event in 2019, 2020, and 2022.

Yale’s Connor Lee was out like a shot in lane 6, turning in 20.81 at the 50 wall. Gures, trailing by nearly four-tenths, made up most of the difference on the third 25 alone. He split a 23.7 on the second half to win by six-tenths.

Princeton’s Nicholas Lim outsplit Lee by three-tenths on the back half but had too much ground to make up and had to settle for third place with 45.87.

Men’s 400 Individual Medley – Finals

  • Ivy League Meet Record: 3:41.00 – Mark Andrew, Penn (2019)
  • Pool Record: 3:41.00 – Mark Andrew, Penn (2019)
  • NCAA A Standard: 3:39.16
  • 2022 NCAA Invite Time: 3:43.50

Podium:

  1. Raunak Khosla, Princeton – 3:41.95
  2. Lucas Strobek, Princeton – 3:46.08
  3. Lukas Scheidl, Brown – 3:48.40
  4. Kevin Keil, Penn – 3:49.75
  5. Jason Schreiber, Penn – 3:49.97
  6. Peyton Werner, Princeton – 3:51.42
  7. Jack Valiquette, Cornell – 3:52.99
  8. Max Hardart, Brown – 3:53.60

It was the Raunak Khosla show from the opening bell. The Princeton senior was out first on the butterfly, followed teammate Lucas Strobek and Penn’s Jason Schreiber. At the 100, Schreiber moved into second place ahead of Strobek, while Khosla kept adding distance between himself and the rest of the field. Strobek came back into second place on the backstroke, nearly catching Khosla on the 200 turn.

Khosla’s strength is the second half of the race, and he was on full display from the first strokes of breaststroke. He led Strobek by 2.5 seconds at the 250, and by 5 seconds at the 300. Meanwhile, Schreiber was starting to close on Strobek but it was still Khosla, Strobek, and Schreiber at the 350 wall.

Khosla finished the race three body lengths ahead of Strobek, 3:41.95 to 3:46.08, but everything changed behind the two Tigers on the last 50 yards. Lukas Scheidl of Brown, swimming in front of his home crowd, came back from six-tenths down to pass Schreiber and finish third, in 3:48.40. Kevin Keil from Penn just squeaked by his teammate, Schreiber, to take fourth (3:49.75).

It was Khosla’s third Ivy League title in the 400 IM. He was just off last year’s winning time of 3:41.43.

Men’s 200 Freestyle – Finals

  • Ivy League Meet Record: 1:30.83 – D. Farris, Harvard (2019)
  • Pool Record: 1:30.83 – D. Farris, Harvard (2019)
  • NCAA A Standard: 1:31.98
  • 2022 NCAA Invite Time: 1:33.08

Podium:

  1. Noah Millard, Yale – 1:32.85
  2. Ben Littlejohn, Harvard – 1:33.73
  3. Mitchell Schott, Princeton – 1:34.08
  4. Marcus Holmquist, Harvard – 1:35.82
  5. (TIE) Joe Page, Yale / Max Walther, Princeton – 1:35.83
  6. David Greeley, Harvard – 1:36.91
  7. Lucas Tudoras, Princeton – 1:37.11

Noah Millard of Yale won his second title of the meet with a 1:32.85 school record in the 200 free.

Ben Littlejohn of Harvard shot off the block and tore up the field on the first 50, turning in 21.40 at the 50 wall. Millard was .8 behind in lane 4, biding his time until the second half, when he would switch into another gear.

Millard pulled within just .26 of Littlejohn at the 150, while Princeton’s Mitchell Schott came from way back at the 100 to begin to close the gap with the leaders.

Millard soared into the lead over the final 50 yards to win in 1:32.85, while Littlejohn kept Schott at bay to hold onto second place, 1:33.73 to 1:34.08.

Men’s 100 Breaststroke – Finals

  • Ivy League Meet Record: 51.85 – Alex Evdokimov, Cornell (2018)
  • Pool Record: 52.08 – Jack Kelly, Brown (2022)
  • NCAA A Standard: 51.40
  • 2022 NCAA Invite Time: 52.20

Podium:

  1. Demirkan Demir, Columbia – 52.03
  2. Jack Kelly, Brown – 52.16
  3. Matthew Fallon, Penn – 52.72
  4. Michael Chang, Columbia – 52.84
  5. Sebastian Wolff, Cornell – 52.86
  6. Alexander Hazlett, Yale – 53.39
  7. Jacob Bass, Cornell – 53.56
  8. Jared Simpson, Harvard – 53.58

Defending champion Demirkan Demir of Columbia went for it from the start, swimming in lane 5 after having finished second this morning to Jack Kelly of Brown. Michael Chang of Columbia was just .08 behind, while Kelly trailed by another .07.

Kelly made his move on the third 25, passing Chang and challenging Demir. But Demir still had another gear himself, and he got his hands to the wall first, breaking Kelly’s pool record with 52.08. Kelly was just off his morning time with 52.16.

Penn’s Matthew Fallon had a strong back half, too, pulling past Chang to take third with 52.72.

Men’s 100 Backstroke – Finals

  • Ivy League Meet Record: 44.81 – Dean Farris, Harvard (2018)
  • Pool Record: 45.09 – Dean Farris, Harvard (2019)
  • NCAA A Standard: 44.79
  • 2022 NCAA Invite Time: 45.87

Podium:

  1. Gunner Grant, Harvard – 46.34
  2. Anthony Rincon, Harvard – 47.21
  3. Tyler Hong, Princeton – 47.24
  4. Mark McCrary, Penn – 47.28
  5. Aayush Deshpande, Harvard – 47.37
  6. Isaac Beers, Columbia – 47.47
  7. Brett Feyerick, Princeton – 47.58
  8. Paige DaCosta, Cornell – 47.66

Defending champion Gunner Grant of Harvard won his second consecutive 100 back title, this time in 46.34. Teammate Anthony Rincon finished nine-tenths behind, leading the rest of the field that was only separated by .45 from second through eighth.

Princeton’s Tyler Hong, swimming in lane 8, powered to a third-place finish, just getting by Penn’s Mark McCrary by .04 but missing second place by .03. Hong and McCrary were fifth and seventh at the halfway point. McCrary had a very strong third 25, while Hong got the edge on the fourth 25.

Men’s 3-Meter Diving – Consolation Final

  • Ivy League Meet Record: 464.55 – Jonathan Suckow, Columbia (2022)
  • Pool Record: 442.35 – Jonathan Suckow, Columbia (2019)

Top 8:

  1. Aidan Thomas, Yale – 344.45
  2. Nicholas Chau, Yale – 339.50
  3. Adam Wesson, Harvard – 326.30
  4. Everett Tai, Dartmouth – 317.00
  5. Nick Nocita, Harvard – 304.65
  6. Ray Wipfli, Yale – 296.15
  7. Nicholas Leavell, Columbia – 294.95
  8. Jack Williams, Penn – 269.10

 

Men’s 400 Medley Relay – Timed Final

  • Ivy League Meet Record: 3:05.72 – Harvard (2022)
  • Pool Record: 3:07.67 – Harvard (2019)
  • NCAA A Standard: 3:04.96

Podium:

  1. Harvard – 3:05.51
  2. Princeton – 3:05.95
  3. Yale – 3:07.36
  4. Columbia – 3:09.85
  5. Penn – 3:10.62
  6. Brown – 3:11.49
  7. Cornell – 3:11.53
  8. Dartmouth – 3:17.44

Harvard wrapped up an exciting day of swimming with a new meet and pool record in the 400 medley relay. Gunner Grant (46.57), Jared Simpson (52.55), Umit Gures (44.49), and Marcus Holmquist (41.90) combined for 3:05.51, just holding off Princeton who finished four-tenths back.

The Tigers used Tyler Hong (47.52), Raunak Khosla (50.68), Nicholas Lim (45.59), and Mitchell Schott (42.16) to combine for 3:05.95, which was also under the old pool record. Khosla came back from a 1-second deficit to put Princeton in the lead headed into the fly, but Gures went 1.1 seconds faster than Lim to put the Crimson out of reach for the remainder of the relay.

Yale (Noah Millard, Alexander Hazlett, Connor Lee, and Joe Page) went 3:07.36 for third.

Team Scores After Day 3

  1. Harvard University – 1025
  2. Princeton University – 1009
  3. Yale University – 698
  4. Columbia University – 654.5
  5. Brown University – 588
  6. University of Pennsylvania – 559
  7. Cornell University – 467
  8. Dartmouth College – 257.5

 

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NoFastTwitch
1 year ago

Amazingly exciting meet – maybe down to the final relay?

blueandgold
1 year ago

Still don’t know which way this meet will go…

Cam
1 year ago

Article proposal for you Braden: How much faster the 100 breast was this year compared to previous years and also compared to other events at Ivies

Yaboi
1 year ago

Raunak Khosla with a blistering 50.6 breastroke split for Princeton on the 400 medley- single handedly almost won that relay over Harvard

almost
Reply to  Yaboi
1 year ago

almost 🤷‍♀️

Mozart
1 year ago

BEN LITTLEJOHN

About Anne Lepesant

Anne Lepesant

Anne Lepesant is the mother of four daughters, all of whom swam in college. With an undergraduate degree from Princeton (where she was an all-Ivy tennis player) and an MBA from INSEAD, she worked for many years in the financial industry, both in France and the U.S. Anne is currently …

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