2025 Princeton Big Al Invitational
- December 4-6, 2025
- DeNunzio Pool — Princeton, NJ
- 25 Yards (SCY)
- Participating Teams: Princeton (host), Columbia, Utah, Penn, & Cornell
- Results: “2025 Princeton Big Al Invitational” on MeetMobile
The first finals session of this year’s Big Al Invitational went off last night, with Princeton winning 10 of the 14 events.
Despite several wins, the Princeton women trail Penn by nearly 200 points overall, while the Tiger men hold a lead of nearly 100 points heading into day two.
Event Winners:
- Women’s 200 Freestyle Relay: Princeton – 1:29.60
- Men’s 200 Freestyle Relay: Princeton – 1:17.93
- Women’s 50 Breaststroke: Amy Qin (PENN) – 28.70
- Men’s 50 Breaststroke: Watson Nguyen (PENN) – 24.80
- Women’s 500 Freestyle Anna Moehn (PRIN) – 4:43.58
- Men’s 500 Freestyle: Mitchell Schott (PRIN) – 4:15.55
- Women’s 50 Backstroke: Delaney Herr (PRIN) – 24.45
- Men’s 50 Backstroke: Derek Hitchens (COL) – 21.90
- Women’s 200 IM: Eleanor Sun (PRIN)- 1:56.55
- Men’s 200 IM: Alex Townsend (PRIN) – 1:46.08
- Women’s 50 Freestyle: Sabrina Johnston (PRIN) – 22.41
- Men’s 50 Freestyle: Zion James (COL) – 19.49
- Women’s 400 Medley Relay: Princeton – 3:39.00
- Men’s 400 Medley Relay: Princeton – 3:09.48
The meet started with the 200 free relays, which were won by Princeton on both sides. The women won with a final time of 1:29.60, over half a second faster than they were at this meet last year. The team of Sophia Sunwoo (22.74), Sabrina Johnston (21.86), Edie Simecek (23.33), and Veronique Rossouw (22.67) beat the 2nd place Columbia team who came in at 1:30.92.
The Princeton men’s squad of Yanning Zheng (19.96), Jake Tarara (19.22), Lucas Tudoras (19.43), and Mitchell Schott (19.32) stopped the clock in 1:17.93, clearing Columbia (1:18.71) by just under a second. The Tigers are right on par with the 1:17.56 they produced to win the event last year.
Penn senior Anna Moehn won the women’s 500 freestyle by 1.5 seconds, touching with a time of 4:43.58. She won the event last year in 4:41.62, while her best time remains the 4:41.28 she posted to take the silver at the 2025 Ivy League Championships.
Mitchell Schott, a Princeton senior, took the men’s 500 free in 4:15.55 by about the same margin as Moehn. This was a personal best for Schott, as his previous best was the 4:15.76 he posted at a tri-meet last January.
Schott swam the 200 IM at this meet last year rather than the 500 free, though the 200 IM remains his better event on paper. He’s the defending Ivy League champion in the event and won the silver medal at this past summer’s World University Games.
The Tigers went on to win both 200 IM events as well. Sophomore Eleanor Sun won the women’s event by over a second with her 1:56.55. This was around a half second faster than the 1:57.10 she swam to win the event last season.
Alex Townsend, a freshman, won the men’s 200 IM by hundredths with a time of 1:46.08. He was just off his 1:45.94 best time from SwimAtlanta’s Best of the South Meet last March.
Princeton senior Sabrina Johnston won the women’s 50 free with a final time of 22.41, 15 hundredths ahead of Kayla Fu of Penn. Her best time remains the 22.07 she swam to win gold at the 2025 Ivy League Championships.
The men’s 50 freestyle went to Columbia junior Zion James, who won by just over two tenths at 19.49. He was just over a tenth shy of his 19.37, which he set en route to earning bronze at last year’s Ivy League meet.
The 400 medley relays were the last event of the day. Princeton eeked out a win by just under two tenths in the women’s relay, as the foursome of Delaney Herr (53.53), Eliza Brown (1:01.34), Savannah Skow (53.74), and Chloe Kim (50.39), led from start to finish, despite the race tightening over the final two legs. They posted a final time of 3:39.10, with Penn 2nd in 3:39.14, and Penn ‘B’ 3rd in 3:39.94.
The Tiger men’s quartet of Parker Lenoce (47.46), Andrew Zou (53.04), Alex Townsend (46.90), and Mitchell Schott (42.08) beat out their ‘B’ team by just under a second to win in 3:09.48.
In the non-individual events at the championship meets, Amy Qin of Penn won the women’s 50 breaststroke with a time of 28.70, while Watson Nguyen of Penn took the men’s 50 breaststroke in 24.80. In the backstroke races, Delaney Herr of Princeton captured the women’s 50 backstroke in 24.45, and Derek Hitchens of Columbia claimed the men’s title with a 21.90.
CURRENT TEAM SCORES
Women:
- Penn – 544 points
- Princeton – 364.5 points
- Columbia – 209.5 points
- Utah – 43 points
- Cornell – 19 points
Men:
- Princeton – 505.5 points
- Columbia – 414.5 points
- Penn – 309 points
- Utah – 27 points
- Cornell – 26 points
Princeton is amazing! Them tigers will continue to dominate the opposition. I say just keep pouring it on all other team and do the Growling Tiger Cheer!
Might want to check Women’s Team Scores.
The world famous GTC known as the Growling Tiger Cheer was initiated by C. Rob Orr, former Head Men’s Swimming Coach of the Princeton Tigers. At an insanely close meet against a rival, Coach Orr stripped off his shirt, got down on all fours and imitated an animated growling Tiger to the awe and excitement of all supporters, team members and the opposition. Princeton won the meet and the GTC is forever cast as iconic.