Princeton Destroys Ivy League Record in the 800 Free Relay with 6:09.80; Schott Splits 1:30.30

2026 Ivy League Men’s Swimming & Diving Championships

• Dates: Wednesday, February 25–Saturday, February 29
• Location: DeNunzio Pool, Princeton, New Jersey
• Defending Champions: Princeton men (1x)
• Teams: Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Princeton, Yale
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  • Day 1 Finals

Men’s 800 Freestyle Relay – Timed Final

• NCAA Record: 5:59.75, California (Alexy, Jett, Lasco, Heaveneaux) – 2025
• Ivy League Record: 6:11.73, Harvard (Reihman, Farris, Holmquist, Marcoux) – 2019
• Ivy League Meet Record: 6:13.75 – Princeton (Balva, Schott, Sech, Dinu) – 2025
• Pool Record: 6:16.19, Harvard (2022)
• NCAA Qualifying Times (Qualifying/Provisional): 6:14.67/6:16.79
• 2025 Champion: Princeton (Balva, Schott, Sech, Dinu, Patrick) – 6:13.75

Podium:

1. Princeton (Arthur Balva, Mitchell Schott, Parker Lenoce, Patrick Dinu), 6:09.80 *IVY LEAGUE, MEET, POOL RECORD*
2. Yale (Jake Wang, Lars Kuljus, Mak Nurkic Kacapor, Noah Millard), 6:13.92
3. Cornell (Pietro Ubertalli, Jacques Grove, Will Chen, Gabe Anagnoson), 6:20.24
4. Columbia, 6:22.02
5. Brown, 6:22.35
6. Harvard, 6:22.39
7. Penn, 6:22.85
8. Dartmouth, 6:29.04

The excitement from the opening event of the 2026 Ivy League Men’s Championships – the 200 medley relay which saw Yale break the meet record and earn an automatic qualifying time for NCAAS – had barely settled when the eight teams took their places behind the blocks for the 800 free relay.

This was one of the most anticipated event of the meet, given that at last year’s championship, Princeton edged Yale by a mere .23 to break the meet record in 6:13.75. With largely the same cast of characters, it was something we were looking forward watching to this year.

They did not disappoint.

Yale was fired up after their first Day 1 victory. Jake Wang led off with 1:32.83, giving the Bulldogs a .84-second advantage over the Tigers headed into the second leg. Princeton leadoff Arthur Balva did his job, opening with 1:33.67 to keep Mitchell Schott, the Tigers’ second leg, within half a body length of Lars Kuljus as he began his 200.

Schott split 1:30.30 (20.59-22.60-23.35-23.76), blasting past Kuljus on the first 50 and putting two bodies of clear water in his wake by the time he handed off to Parker Lenoce at the halfway point.

Lenoce outsplit Yale’s Mak Nurkic Kacapor, 1:33.68 to 1:34.13, adding a little more cushion for Patrick Dinu’s anchor.

Dinu was up against Noah Millard, one of Yale’s most decorated swimmers. He anchored last year’s race in 1:30.44, very nearly catching Dinu (1:32.32 last year). But this time, Dinu, who had also anchored Princeton’s 200 medley relay 45 minutes earlier, held his ground against Millard, going 1:32.15 to Millard’s 1:32.65.

Both Princeton and Yale cleared the automatic qualifying standard for 2026 NCAAs. Yale took .06 off their program record; their previous best performance was the 6:13.98 they swam at 2025 Ivy Championships.

Cornell swam all alone in third place, beating Columbia by 1.8 seconds to make the podium for the second year in a row.

Princeton obliterated the previous meet mark of 6:13.17. They blasted right through the 6:10 barrier and landed at 6:09.80. As of today, only 10 teams have swum sub-6:10s:

1. Texas, SEC Championships, 6:06.24
2. Ohio State, B1G Conference Championships , 6:06.64
3. Stanford, Atlantic Coast Championships, 6:07.40
4. NC State, Atlantic Coast Championships, 6:07.42
5. Arizona State, Big 12 Conference Championships, 6:08.31
6. Wisconsin, B1G Conference Championships , 6:08.87
7. Indiana, B1G Conference Championships, 6:08.90
8. Michigan, B1G Conference Championships, 6:09.36
9. California, Atlantic Coast Championships, 6:09.53
10. Princeton, Ivy League Men’s Championships, 6:09.80

Comparative Splits