Congratulations to Princeton Men for Winning their First Ivy League Title Since 2016

2025 Ivy League Men’s Swimming & Diving Championships

• Dates: Wednesday, February 26–Saturday, March 1
• Location: Katherine Moran Coleman Aquatics Center, Providence, RI
• Defending Champions: Harvard men (7x)
• Championship Central
• Fan Guide
• Pre-scratch psych sheet
• Live Recaps: Day 1 ׀ Day 2 ׀ Day 3 ׀ Day 4
• Official Results (PDF): Day 1 ׀ Day 2 ׀ Day 3 ׀ Day 4 ׀ Full Meet

It was more guts than glory in the Princeton camp, as the Tigers overcame a devastating relay disqualification on Day 2 to claw their way back to the top of the standings by the end of Day 4 in Providence.

Princeton were able to regroup and perform well on Friday, which put them just 1 point clear of Harvard and 11 points ahead of Yale headed into Saturday. Day 4 was a big one for the Tigers; they outperformed the psych sheet by 35 points in prelims and finished well at night, earning their first conference title since 2016. Princeton snapped Harvard’s seven-year winning streak that began when Dean Farris was a freshman.

Final Team Scores

1. Princeton University – 1330
2. Harvard University – 1262.5
3. Yale University – 1212.5
4. Brown University – 927.5
5. Cornell University – 912.5
6. Columbia University – 854.5
7. University of Pennsylvania – 701.5
8. Dartmouth College – 571

The Ivy League Championships are always difficult to pre-score because the eight coaches do not need to scratch their over-entered athletes until the first day of the meet. In addition, the Ivy men’s meet still includes a 1000 free on Day 3, which is not an event contested at the NCAA Division I Championships – this makes it even more challenging to guess what is going on in the coaches’ heads.

That said, we did our best to make logical assumptions. On paper, we gave Princeton about a 10-point advantage over Harvard, but because the Crimson overperformed by 344 points in 2024, we erred on the side of caution and put Harvard at the top of our predicted standings.

Yale came out roaring in the 200 medley relay, winning the event for the first time since 1989 when the Ivy League began keeping records. Princeton and Yale both destroyed the 800 free relay record, coming to the wall in NCAA “A” cut times with Princeton getting the win. Yale won the 500 free, 50 free, and 200 free relay the next day. Princeton’s only event win on Day 2 was from Mitchell Schott in the 200 IM, but the Tigers finished the day second only to Yale in points, even with the disqualification of their 200 free relay for an early start.

Princeton seemed to wipe the slate clean for Day 3, getting 14 swimmers into finals. They underperformed a little in the 400 IM and 100 back in prelims, but had gritty performances in finals and outperformed Yale and Harvard. The highlight on Friday was Schott’s come-from-behind victory in the 200 free, just touching out Yale superstar Noah Millard.

Princeton pulled off a surprising feat in the 1650 free to start Day 4 finals, landing 3 swimmers among the top 8. One of them was freshman Santiago Gutierrez, who broke the Princeton record. Tiger freshman Patrick Dinu won the 100 free with a program record, surprising everyone who thought Yale would sweep all the freestyle events. Schott earned his third individual gold medal in the 200 fly, coming from behind to eke out a win by .10 over meet record-holder David Schmitt of Harvard. Sophomore diver Aidan Wang repeated as champion on the 3-meter board, an event in which all three of the entrants made the “A” final. The Tigers finished with a third in the 400 free relay, securing the team title by 67.5 points.

Princeton Event Winners

• 800 Free Relay: Arthur Balva, Mitchell Schott, Noah Sech, Patrick Dinu – 7:03.47 (Meet Record, Ivy League Record, Princeton Record)
• 200 IM: Mitchell Schott – 1:41.44
• 200 Free: Mitchell Schott – 1:31.63 (Princeton Record)
• 100 Free: Patrick Dinu – 42.24 (Princeton Record)
• 200 Fly: Mitchell Schott – 1:40.42 (Meet Record, Princeton Record)
• 3 Meter Diving: Aidan Wang – 360.60

Princeton’s 2025 Ivy League Championships Team

Junior Mitchell Schott earned High Point Swimmer of the Meet honors this year, the only swimmer to win all three of his individual events. Schott came within .33 of the Meet and Princeton program records in the 200 IM and missed the NCAA “A” standard by only .37 with 1:41.44. He then took down the Princeton mark in the 200 free, winning by .23 with 1:31.63. His final individual swim was the 200 fly, where he set by the Meet and Princeton records with 1:40.42. He was also a member of the winning 800 free relay, the 400 free relay, and the 400 medley relay.

Freshman Patrick Dinu scored 86 points with a win and Princeton record in the 100 free (42.24), a third-place finish in the 50 free (19.46), and a third in the 200 free (1:33.92). He anchored the winning 800 free relay and swam legs on the 200 medley and 400 free relays.

Sophomore Arthur Balva notched 80 points: he was runner-up in the 500 free (4:17.22), fourth in the 400 IM (3:45.54), and fourth in the 200 fly (1:43.18). He swam lead-off on the first-place 800 free relay.

Senior Tyler Hong, with 77 points, finished second in the 100 back (46.26), fourth in the 200 IM (1:44.02), and seventh in the 200 back (1:44.01). He led off the 200/400 medley relays and swam a leg on the 400 free relay.

Freshman Santiago Gutierrez earned 68 points with a fourth in the mile (14:58.62, Princeton’s first sub-15:00 ever), a fourth in the 1000 free (8:55.85, #5 time in Princeton history), and an 11th-place finish in the 500 free (4:21.60).

Sophomore Aidan Wang repeated as High Point Diver of the meet with a win on the 3-meter board (360.60) and a second-place finish in 1-meter diving (363.00).