2026 Men’s Ivy League Championships
- Dates: Wednesday, February 25–Saturday, February 28
- Location: DeNunzio Pool, Princeton, NJ
- Defending Champions: Princeton men (1x)
- Teams: Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Princeton, Yale
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The opening day of the 2026 Ivy League Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships is upon us, and the host team, the Princeton Tigers, will be eyeing a repeat as Ivy League champions in home water. Tonight’s first bit of action will feature the 200 medley relay and the 800 free relay as we get underway from the DeNunzio Pool in Princeton.
200 Medley Relay:
- NCAA Record: 1:20.03 – Florida (Marshall, de Groot, Buff, Liendo), 2026
- Ivy League Record: 1:22.42 – Harvard (Farris, Simpson, Gures, Marcoux), 2022
Ivy Champs Record: 1:23.79 – Harvard (Rincon, Simpson, Gures, Linnihan), 2023- Pool Record: 1:24.06 – Harvard (2022)
- NCAA Qualifying Times (Qualifying/Provisional): 1:23.61/1:23.85
- 2025 Champion: Yale – 1:24.00
Podium:
- Yale- 1:23.55 *Meet Record
- Princeton- 1:24.35
- Columbia- 1:25.33
- Harvard- 1:25.47
- Cornell- 1:25.75
- Penn- 1:26.52
- Dartmouth- 1:26.61
- Brown- 1:27.80
Columbia held an early lead after the first 50 as Isaac Beers led off in 21.48, but from there it would be the Yale Bulldogs taking full control over this meet-opening race, as Alexander Hazlett quickly got the Bulldogs into the lead with his 23.29 breaststroke split, only Penn’s Watson Nguyen was faster (23.13).
Nicholas Finch held it down for Yale, splitting 19.85 on the butterfly leg, the only butterflier under 20 seconds in the field. With a 50 to go, the only other team within a body length of Yale was Princeton, who handed off to sprint free ace Patrick Dinu. Despite Dinu’s 18.61 effort, it was Deniel Nankov (18.73) who carried the momentum through to the final touch, clocking a new Ivy League Meet Record in 1:23.55, besting Harvard’s 2023 mark of 1:23.79, and defend their event title from 2025.
Rounding out the top three was Princeton in 1:24.35, and Columbia, who overtook Harvard on the final 50 thanks to an 18.71 split from Zion James to take 3rd in 1:25.33.
800 Free Relay:
- NCAA Record: 5:59.75 – California (Alexy, Jett, Lasco, Heaveneaux), 2025
Ivy League Record: 6:11.73 – Harvard (Reihman, Farris, Holmquist, Marcoux), 2022Ivy Champs Record: 6:13.75 – Princeton (Balva, Schott, Sech, Dinu) 2025Pool Record: 6:16.19 – Harvard (2022)- NCAA Qualifying Times (Qualifying/Provisional): 6:14.67/6:16.79
- 2025 Champion: Princeton – 6:13.75
Podium:
- Princeton- 6:09.80 *League, Meet, Pool Record
- Yale- 6:13.92
- Cornell- 6:20.24
- Columbia- 6:22.02
- Brown- 6:22.35
- Harvard- 6:22.39
- Penn- 6:22.85
- Dartmouth- 6:29.04
Jake Wang led off for the Bulldogs, opening up in 44.28 on the first 100, and held on to give the bulldogs a body length lead in 1:32.83. Princeton responded quick with Mitchell Schott in their second leg, and he immediately got the Tigers a body length lead of their own, opening in 43.1 at the 300 mark. Schott overpowered the field, splitting 1:30.30. Giving the Tigers a sizeable lead at the halfway point in 3:03.97.
The penultimate swimmer for Princeton, Parker Lenoce (1:33.68), was tasked with holding onto the Tiger’s lead through to Dinu, who was pulling double duty tonight. Yale’s achor Noah Millard entered this race with just too much ground to make up, despite splitting 1:32.65. Dinu would charge home hard, splitting 1:32.15 to demolish the Ivy League, Meet, and pool records in 6:09.80, putting them well under NCAA Qualifying time.
Despite the runner-up finish, Yale still finished under school record time in 6:13.92. Cornell was the only other team under 6:22, finishing 3rd in 6:20.24.
Team Scores After Day 1
- Yale University / Princeton University – 120
- –
- Columbia University – 106
- Cornell University – 104
- Harvard University – 100
- University of Pennsylvania / Brown University – 94
- –
- Dartmouth College – 90
Where does that relay split from Mitch Schott stand in all time rankings?
there were 6 faster performers at last years ncaas if u include the leadoffs so probably somewhere in the top 20
22nd best performer according to USA Swimming’s stats.
For this year I think it is third.
Some Big Boy swims tonight. Fired up to see what the rest of the meet brings.
Princeton men are just getting started
IMO this will only get faster. Swimming is a rich and smart sport no matter how you look at it. Kids will see the benefit of it over lesser d1 schools and see how fast it is. Next 5 years we will see top 5 relays from this league.
Would love to see Mitchell Schott challenge for an international team spot in LCM!
I mean he already represented the US at the World University Games last year, so he definitely has the experience already.
Great start for Yale and Princeton. Three relays through to NCAAs! Ivy’s won’t be “stealing” spots from P4- they will be earning them.
I’m predicting Mitch goes to the Olympics!
Los Cab goat
130.3 for Mitch Schott!