After 19 straight years as the bridesmaid to Ivy League rivals Princeton and Harvard, Yale women’s swimming and diving team was finally the bride this past weekend at the annual double dual meet known as HYP. The Bulldogs built on the lead they had established by the end of the first session on Saturday, and finished Sunday’s session firmly at the top of the standings in their first undefeated Ivy League in a long while. Yale is the clear favorite to win the 2016 Ivy League Women’s Championship meet, which will give them their first conference title since 1978.
Sunday’s session began with the 100 free, with Yale’s Kina Zhou leading the field in 50.37. Maddy Veith (51.33) and Victoria Chan (51.37) were Princeton and Harvard’s top finishers, respectively. Danielle Lee and teammate Kendal Crawford led a 1-2 Harvard sweep of the 200 back, touching in 1:58.37 and 1:59.30. Kate Rogers (2:00.03) of Yale edged Princeton’s Lindsay Temple (2:00.09) for third overall.
Freshmen Kate Didion (2:15.25) and Janet Zhao (2:16.94) of Princeton clocked the top times in the 200 breast, ahead of Harvard sophomores Katie Evans (2:17.17) and Geordie Enoch (2:17.83).
Yale senior Eva Fabian led the Bulldogs to their first undefeated Ivy season in recent memory.
Yale came back with a 1-2-3 finish in the 500 free behind Cailley Silbert (4:52.81), Eva Fabian (4:54.83), and Danielle Liu (4:55.91). Princeton’s Monica McGrath (4:56.04) and Rebecca Fleming (4:56.89) both touched ahead of Harvard’s Willa Wang (4:57.58). Lilybet MacRae came out at the top of the field in the 1-meter diving event, just outscoring Mikaela Thompson of Harvard, 291.40 to 290.05. Third place went to Deborah Daly of Princeton with 271.50 points.
Maddy Zimmerman of Yale out-touched Harvard’s Sonia Wang and Princeton’s Nikki Larson, 54.55-54.77-55.17, to claim victory in the 100 fly. Wang won the final individual event, the 200 IM, in 2:00.62. Yale’s Sophie Pilkinton went 2:04.05 for second; Princeton’s Beverly Nguyen was third in 2:04.29.
Yale finished the meet with a win in the 400 free relay, hitting the wall in 3:22.94. Princeton’s top quartet went 3:24.77; Harvard was 3:26.18.
Final Scores:
Princeton 165 – 135 Harvard
Yale 173.5 – 126.5 Princeton
Yale 167 – 133 Harvard
Congratulations to the Bulldogs!! What fantastic recruiting by Coach Jim Henry and his staff! It is wonderful to see another Ivy team become competitive and this upcoming Ivies should be one of the best in recent history, but don’t ever count Princeton or Harvard out based on the results of HYP. Princeton always prepares for Ivies and nothing else. False starts, missed dives, injuries, sickness and all sorts of point killing phenomena happen in the middle of February. Remember Columbia?? Again, it will be an Ivies not to be missed and hopefully the couple of overtly over zealous Yale parents (understandable given the drought) will tone it down a bit at the Championship.
Now with this success maybe Yale can finally get a new pool! As a Princeton swimmer back in the early 1960s I competed in that pool, and it was then already 30 some years old.
Ahhhh, Ivy League swimming: where all of the current and former swimmers have had their egos inflated so much that they think everyone else cares about their convoluted internal narratives of success.
Way to go Yale alumni/parents: you’ve validated every stereotype I have of you with this comments thread.
How is winning this meet for the first time in 19 years a convoluted narrative of success? The girls continue to get stronger and faster every year and they work hard. They deserve to celebrate their hard work, just like any other college swimmer would after this kind of victory, regardless of what division or league they belong to.
If YOU don’t care, don’t read or comment. This article was meant for those who do. And their friends, family, and alums who care will continue to cheer them on regardless of some faceless cynic’s snarky comment on Swimswam.com.
Yale finished strong third to two ACC schools with scholarships. at Nike Invitational in North Carolina. Perhaps you should take a look at national rankings?
The leadership in the Bulldog’s senior class in unparalleled and deserves some applause too. Since these young women came on as freshmen they have been demonstrating for their entire team, upperclassmen and underclassmen alike, how to work hard for their successes and be team players. Those girls are HUNGRY for a victory this year at champs. The future will continue to be bright (i.e. fast!!!!!!!!) for the Bulldogs thanks to tons of key players (leadership, Coach Jim Henry, top-notch recruitment, etc.) and the class of 2016 is definitely one of these keys as their example will prevail over the classes to come after they depart.
Great job Jim. You are the man!
Couldn’t agree more. The growing success of YWSD has been built upon a foundation of recruiting and coaching started by Christina Teucher and solidified by Jim Henry. The accomplishments of the current team of student-athletes are a product of their hard work, belief and commitment to one another. The recent graduates of YWSD should take equal pride in team’s success, as their leadership helped pave the way.
Yale’s rise did not just happen “this summer”. Jim Henry has been building up to this since he arrived at Yale in 2012. His top-notch recruiting and coaching, along with the dedication and commitment of his student-athletes is what is taking Yale to new heights. Boola boola!
Just shows what an absolutely phenomenal Coach Jim Henry is — bringing BIG TIME swimming mentality to the Ivy League. BOOLA BOOLA