2023 Ivy League Men’s Championships: Day 4 Prelims Live Recap

2023 Men’s Ivy League Swimming & Diving Championships

• Wednesday, February 22 – Saturday, February 25, 2022
• Prelims 11:00 AM / Finals 6:00 PM
• Katherine Moran Coleman Aquatics Center, Brown University, Providence, RI
• Defending Champions: Harvard University
• Live Results on Meet Mobile
• Daily Results PDFs posted post-session here
• Live Video (ESPN+)
• Championship Central
• Day 1 Finals Results (PDF)
• Day 2 Finals Results (PDF)
• Day 3 Finals Results (PDF)
• Day 4 Prelims Results (PDF)

SATURDAY MORNING HEAT SHEETS

Team Scores After Day 3

1. Harvard University – 1025
2. Princeton University – 1009
3. Yale University – 698
4. Columbia University – 654.5
5. Brown University – 588
6. University of Pennsylvania – 559
7. Cornell University – 467
8. Dartmouth College – 257.5

It’s the most exciting Men’s Ivy Championships we have seen in years, with tight team races all up and down the ladder. Princeton and Harvard could come down to the last relay, while Columbia, Penn, and Brown are locked in a tough battle for fourth place.

Defending champion Gunner Grant of Harvard comes in as the top seed in the 200 back, with teammate Anthony Rincon just behind him. The pair went 1-2 in the 100 back last night. Harvard will be hard to beat in the 100 free with #1 seed Marcus Holmquist and Ryan Linnihan, but Umit Gures is also a title threat; he is entered with no time.

Penn’s Matthew Fallon is looking to defend his title, and lower his meet record, in the 200 breast. He will face stiff competition from Demirkan Demir of Columbia, who won the 100 last night, and Jack Kelly of Brown, who was runner-up.

Finally, Raunak Khosla of Princeton leads the field in the 200 fly. He will be going for his fourth consecutive title in this event, with teammate Nicholas Lim at his side.

Men’s 200 Backstroke – Prelims

• Ivy League Meet Record: 1:38.99 – Dean Farris, Harvard (2018)
• Pool Record: 1:42.39 – Jack Manchester, Harvard (2016)
• NCAA A Standard: 1:39.13
• 2022 NCAA Invite Time: 1:40.92

Top 8:

1. Gunner Grant, Harvard – 1:41.14
2. Anthony Rincon, Harvard – 1:41.81
3. Pietro Ubertalli, Cornell – 1:43.74
4. Tyler Hong, Princeton – 1:44.00
5. Paige DaCosta, Cornell – 1:44.04
6. Kyle Won, Columbia – 1:44.28
7. Brett Feyerick, Princeton – 1:44.33
8. Mark McCrary, Penn – 1:44.39

Princeton’s Tyler Hong won the opening heat of 200 back, leading from start to finish and holding off a strong charge from Columbia’s Kyle Won. Hong went 1:44.00 to Won’s 1:44.28, which was 1.2 seconds faster than the Columbia Lion’s entry time.

Anthony Rincon, last year’s bronze medalist, broke the pool record with a 1.3-second drop off his seed time, winning heat 2 in 1:41.81. Rincon was already a body length ahead of the field at the halfway mark, and he continued to build his lead through the race. Princeton’s Brett Feyerick took second (1:44.33), while Columbia’s Isaac Beers and Stanford Li tied for third with 1:45.13.

Rincon’s pool record only stood for two minutes, as his teammate Gunner Grant, the 2022 champion, clocked a 1:41.14 to take the final heat. Behind him, Cornell’s Pietro Ubertalli touched out teammate Paige daCosta for second, 1:43.74 to 1:44.04.

Men’s 100 Freestyle – Prelims

• Ivy League Meet Record: 41.42 – Dean Farris, Harvard (2019)
• Pool Record: 41.42 – Dean Farris, Harvard (2019)
• NCAA A Standard: 41.64
• 2022 NCAA Invite Time: 42.34

Top 8:

1. Joe Page, Yale – 42.98
2. Marcus Holmquist, Harvard / Mitchell Schott, Princeton – 43.00
3. –
4. Umit Gures, Harvard – 43.11
5. Ryan Linnihan, Harvard – 43.52
6. Benjamin Feldman, Penn – 43.60
7. David Greeley, Harvard – 43.63
8. Marcus Lee, Brown – 43.68

Harvard brought out all the stops on the 100 free, and it paid off. The Crimson shut down the meet with their performances in this event, beginning with Umit Gures who won heat 1 with 43.11, entered with no seed time. Yale’s Marcus Hodgson won heat 2 (44.28), dropping 1.5 seconds, ahead of teammate Greg Kalin (44.74).

Harvard’s Marcus Holmquist and Princeton’s Mitchell Schott tied to post the fastest time in heat 3 (43.00), while Harvard’s David Greeley came in third with 43.63.

Yale’s Joe Page cracked the 43-second barrier in the next heat, putting up the morning’s top time of 42.98. Harvard’s Ryan Linnihan (43.52) and Brown’s Marcus Lee (43.68) rounded out the top three.

The final heat went to Penn’s Benjamin Feldman, who came from behind on the second half to win in 43.60. Princeton’s Max Walther (43.92) passed teammate Lucas Tudoras (44.04) at the end to come in second.

Men’s 200 Breaststroke – Prelims

• Ivy League Meet Record: 1:51.44 – Matthew Fallon, Penn (2022)
• Pool Record: 1:53.56 – Alex Evdokimov, Cornell (2016)
• NCAA A Standard: 1:51.54
• 2022 NCAA Invite Time: 1:53.23

Top 8:

1. Jack Kelly, Brown – 1:52.70
2. Matthew Fallon, Penn – 1:54.48
3. Demirkan Demir, Columbia – 1:54.82
4. Jared Simpson, Harvard – 1:56.03
5. Jacob Bass, Cornell – 1:56.52
6. Alex Deng, Yale – 1:56.72
7. Jason Schreiber, Penn – 1:56.76
8. Josh Brown, Princeton – 1:56.92

Demirkan Demir of Columbia, who won the 100 breast last night, took the first circle-seeded heat of 200 breast with 1:54.82. Penn’s Matthew Leblanc had led through the first half, but Demir dominated the second 100 yards and put Leblanc, and the rest of the field, in his wake. Yale’s Alex Deng (1:56.72) had a strong final 50 and he pushed past Leblanc (1:57.75), too.

Brown’s Jack Kelly led the penultimate heat from start to finish. He dropped two-tenths to clock in at 1:52.70 and break the Brown program record. Teammate Vincent Huang, who had been trailing behind Kelly and Columbia’s Michael Chang throughout much of the race, ended up third when Neil Simpson of Penn came roaring back on the last 50 to take second.

Princeton’s Josh Brown got off to the fastest start in the final heat but Matthew Fallon of Penn, the meet record-holder, took control at the 100 and never let up. He took the heat in 1:54.48, followed by Harvard’s Jared Simpson (1:56.03). Cornell’s Jacob Bass (1:56.52) and Penn’s Jason Schreiber (1:56.76) both passed Brown over the final 50 yards to finish third and fourth.

Men’s 200 Butterfly – Prelims

• Ivy League Meet Record: 1:41.50 – Raunak Khosla, Princeton (2022)
• Pool Record: 1:42.05 – Raunak Khosla, Princeton (2019)
• NCAA A Standard: 1:40.44
• NCAA B Standard: 1:46.69

Top 8:

1. Raunak Khosla, Princeton – 1:42.49
2. Nicholas Lim, Princeton – 1:42.74
3. Ben Littlejohn, Harvard – 1:43.73
4. Aayush Despande, Harvard – 1:44.67
5. Connor Lee, Yale – 1:44.85
6. Adam Wu, Columbia – 1:44.87
7. Seungjoon Ahn, Columbia – 1:44.90
8. Joseph Gurski, 1:45.15

Harvard’s Ben Littlejohn destroyed the field in heat 1 of the 200 fly, dropping 9.7 seconds from his seed time to win with 1:43.73. Teammate Aayush Deshpande followed up with a 1:44.67 win in heat 2. He was followed by Seungjoon Ahn of Columbia (1:44.90) and Princeton’s Max Kreidl (1:45.22) and Conor McKenna (1:45.31).

Penn’s Andrew Dai took the next heat out quickly, but Princeton’s Nicholas Lim caught up at the 100 and then proceeded to remain at the front of the field for the rest of the race. Lim (1:42.74) won by nearly two body lengths ahead of Columbia’s Adam Wu (1:44.87) and Dai (1:45.90).

Meet record-holder Raunak Khosla of Princeton claimed the victory in the final heat over Yale’s Connor Lee and Cornell’s Joseph Gurski. Lee shot out to a very fast start and led by more than half a second at the 50, with 22.75. Khosla pulled nearly even at the 100 with a 26.2 and proceeded to swim two more 26 low-to-mids to add distance between himself and Lee. Lee ran out of steam at the 150, coming home in 29, and almost ceded second place in the heat to Gurski, who came within .3 of catching him.