Penn Men Upset Harvard at Home; 1st Win Over Crimson in 49 Meets

Penn (Men) Vs. Harvard (Men)

  • January 20, 2024
  • Sheerr Pool, Philadelphia
  • SCY (25 yards)
  • Results
  • Final Scores:
    • Penn – 176
    • Harvard – 124

The University of Pennsylvania men’s swimming and diving team took down Harvard on Saturday, winning at home in Sheerr Pool, 176 to 124. It was their first victory over the Crimson since 1971, a streak marking 49 straight wins for Harvard, and Penn’s third all-time. Harvard leads the series, which dates back to 1932, 77-3.

The Quakers were on fire from the start. Liam Campbell (22.53), Matt Fallon (24.89), Andrew Dai (20.92) and Benjamin Feldman (19.60) kicked the meet off by winning the medley relay by a full second over Harvard’s Anthony Rincon (22.55), Gunner Grant (25.07), Aayush Deshpande (21.57) and Sonny Wang (19.75).

Penn won the 1000 free (James Curreri, 9:06.33) and 200 free (Truman Armstrong, 1:38.47) before Harvard claimed their first event win, with Grant (47.88) and Rincon (48.32) going 1-2 in the 100 back.

Fallon then won the first of his three events, leading a Penn podium sweep in the 100 breast. Fallon (53.59) was followed by teammates Jason Schreiber (54.44) and Matthew LeBlanc (55.81). Penn also went 1-2-3 in the 200 breast with Fallon (1:56.14), Schreiber (1:56.72), and Peter Whittington (1:59.15), and again in the 200 IM, where Fallon (1:48.21) came to the wall ahead of Schreiber (1:49.78) and Kevin Keil (1:50.89).

Penn’s Dai was also a multiple-event winner. He began with a 1:46.29 victory over Harvard’s David Schmitt (1:46.95) in the 200 fly and followed with a 47.68 win in the 100 fly. Harvard’s Wang (47.80) was 2nd, just ahead of Penn’s Feldman (48.00).

Feldman edged Wang in the 50 free, 20.27 to 20.34. Harvard’s David Greeley (20.45) touched out Penn’s Campbell (20.56) for 3rd. Greeley was victorious in the 100 free (44.51) ahead of Campbell (44.59).

Penn’s Daniel Gallagher won the 200 back (1:44.80) ahead of teammate Curreri (1:45.80), while Harvard’s Rincon (1:46.43) and Grant (1:48.59), who were the top 2 finishers at Ivies last year, came to the wall 3rd and 4th.

Penn eked out a win in the last event, too. Alex Fu (45.77), Campbell (44.42), Dai (45.15), and Feldman (44.04) combined to take the 400 free relay, 2:59.38 to 2:59.95. Wang (56.23), Rincon (44.73), Littlejohn (45.07), and Greeley (43.92) swam the Harvard legs.

Harvard went 1-2-3 in both diving events, with Adam Wesson (349.80) leading teammates Raphael Tourette and Luke Foster on the 1-meter board and Denny Janovki (350.33) beating Foster and Wesson in 3-meter diving.

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Harvard Fan
9 months ago

Everyone did a great job

Last edited 9 months ago by Harvard Fan
New Age Outlaws
9 months ago

womp womp

Jeremy
9 months ago

I’m pretty sure 1971 was more than 49 years ago…

Anonymous
9 months ago

Even with suits Penn men swam fast let’s just say that

Crimson
9 months ago

Rumor has it Penn suited up without giving Harvard a heads up. Dirty play

Head Timer
Reply to  Crimson
9 months ago

Penn was suited. Harvard was not. There was no warning. No one knew until the meet started as Penn men kept their warmup pants on during senior honors.

grade inflation
Reply to  Head Timer
9 months ago

most well known school in the world yet they were not smart enough to ask or bring suits just in case

QuakerOats
Reply to  Crimson
9 months ago

Would Harvard have suited anyways? Cornell and Columbia, if I’m not mistaken, also suited against Harvard and Harvard chose not to wear suits. Seeing as Columbia beat Penn in the season opener, Harvard likely would not have suited regardless.

John
Reply to  Crimson
9 months ago

They could’ve just brought suits too you know – this isn’t the first time it’s happened this season

Grade inflation
Reply to  John
9 months ago

You’d think the “smartest” school in the world would think to ask or bring suits just in case

Harvard
Reply to  Crimson
9 months ago

Harvard showed little respect for the Penn Swim and Dive Team prior to the meet!!!

Last edited 9 months ago by Harvard
New Age Outlaws
Reply to  Crimson
9 months ago

So tired of hearing Harvard getting rocked in a dual meet and complaining that they weren’t suited (both times this year AT HOME).

Just a loser mentality by both sides of that team. Lose with Grace. Look at it as an opportunity. Beat them at Ivys.

Considering dual meets have literally zero bearing on anything – they come across as so holier than thou

Head Timer
Reply to  New Age Outlaws
9 months ago

Is it generally considered a common courtesy to give a heads up if you’re suiting at a college meet, or not?

Bob Mendelson
9 months ago

racks on racks

NoFastTwitch
9 months ago

Awesome

200 breast
9 months ago

Fatt Mallon has returned to back half me 😍☺️

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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