2024 Ivy League Men’s Swimming & Diving Championships

• Wednesday, February 28 – Saturday, March 2, 2024
• Blodgett Pool, Cambridge, MA
• Defending Champions:
  • Men: Harvard (6x)
• Championship Central
• Fan Guide
• Live Results
• Live Video

FRIDAY EVENING HEAT SHEETS

DAY 3

Men’s 1000 Yard Freestyle – Timed Finals

• Ivy Meet: 8:46.99, Brennan Novak, Harvard (2018)
• Pool Record: 8:49.45, Kei Hyogo, Yale (2017)

Podium:

1. John Ehling, Princeton – 8:53.53
2. Cole Kuster, Harvard – 8:56.10
3. James Curreri, Penn – 8:56.66
4. Shane Washart, Harvard – 9:00.46
5. Andrew Berzolla, Brown – 9:00.57
6. Zach Vasser, Columbia – 9:01.50
7. Filip Lanyi, Harvard – 9:02.30
8. Aidan Wilson, Brown – 9:02.34

Princeton senior John Ehling, who began as a walk-on and swam his first-ever 1000 and 1650 freestyles at Princeton, played cat and mouse with Harvard’s Cole Kuster for the first 500 yards. Kuster made a move at the halfway point and pulled to the lead at the 600 turn.

Columbia first-year Zach Vasser was about a body length behind the lead pair until the halfway mark, when Penn sophomore James Curreri made his move.

It was Kuster, Ehling, and Curreri at the 600. Ehling threw his legs into it and pulled half a body length ahead of Kuster at the 700. From there onward, he continued to build his lead and finished 2.6 seconds ahead of Kuster with a new Princeton program record of 8:53.53.

Kuster held off a very fast-charging Curreri, 8:56.10 to 8:56.66, for second place. His teammate Shane Washart earned 4th place, while Brown’s Andrew Berzolla, who had the fastest time out of the earlier heats, wound up 5th overall with 9:00.57.

Men’s 100 Yard Butterfly – Finals

• Ivy Meet: 44.89, Umit Gures, Harvard (2022)
• Pool Record: 45.13, Umit Gures, Harvard (2020)
• NCAA A: 44.64
• NCAA B: 47.08
• 2023 NCAA Invite Time: 45.57

Podium:

1. Joseph Gurski, Cornell – 46.24
2. David Schmitt, Harvard – 46.42
3. Sonny Wang, Harvard – 46.58
4. Aayush Deshpande, Harvard – 46.73
5. Conor McKenna, Princeton – 46.82
6. Nicholas Lim, Princeton – 47.09
7. Anthony Rincon, Harvard – 47.34
8. Andrew Dai, Penn – 47.44

Cornell junior Joseph Gurski stunned the field with a big upset in the 100 fly final. In 2023, he won the consolation final with 47.26; this year, he was a full second faster (46.24), which was good enough for first place. It was Cornell’s first Ivy Championships title since 2020, and their first 100 fly title since 1992.

Gurski was out in 21.48, tied with Harvard first-year Sonny Wang in lane 4. Gurski came home in 24.76, .34 faster than Wang.

Harvard first-year David Schmitt had the fastest second half; his 21.75/24.67 allowed him to get past his classmate Wang and earn the silver medal with 46.42.

Aayush Deshpande touched 4th, just ahead of the Princeton duo of Conor McKenna and Nicholas Lim in lanes 2 and 1. 

Men’s 400 Yard Individual Medley – Finals

• Ivy Meet: 3:41.00, Mark Andrew, Penn (2019)
• Pool Record: 3:41.75, Raunak Khosla, Princeton (2020)
• NCAA A: 3:38.90
• NCAA B: 3:50.68
• 2023 NCAA Invite Time: 3:42.99

Podium:

1. Noah Sech, Princeton – 3:45.95
2. Julian Correa, Cornell – 3:48.60
3. Maxwell Seidel, Princeton – 3:48.73
4. Arthur Balva, Princeton – 3:49.12
5. Kevin Keil, Penn – 3:49.63
6. Jed Jones, Yale – 3:52.07
7. Peyton Werner, Princeton – 3:52.97
8. Hunter Kim, Princeton – 3:57.83

Princeton first-year Noah Sech, with a strong second half, won the 400 IM by two body lengths, stopping the clock with a season-best 3:45.95.

His classmate Arthur Balva kicked things off from lane 2, leading the field through the butterfly (51.20) and backstroke (58.35) legs. Princeton junior Hunter Kim was in 2nd place on the butterfly leg, but Penn’s Kevin Keil came roaring into second place on the backstroke leg with 57.54.

Balva and Keil turned together at the halfway point, but their lead was quickly eviscerated by Sech, who split 1:01.24 on the breaststroke. Also moving up on the breaststroke was Princeton junior Maxwell Seidel (1:00.05).

Sech extended his lead with each 50 over the second 200 yards and finished with a 2 body-length lead at the end.

Cornell first-year Julian Correa robbed the Tigers of a 1-2 finish, as he came to the wall .13 ahead of Seidel with a 51.73 on the end.

Men’s 200 Yard Freestyle – Finals

• Ivy Meet: 1:30.83, Dean Farris, Harvard (2019)
• Pool Record: 1:31.56, Dean Farris, Harvard (2017)
• NCAA A: 1:31.74
• NCAA B: 1:35.79
• 2023 NCAA Invite Time: 1:32.85

Podium:

1. Ben Littlejohn, Harvard – 1:33.24
2. David Greeley, Harvard – 1:34.13
3. Deny Nankov, Yale – 1:34.94
4. Max Kreidl, Princeton – 1:35.37
5. Mitchell Scholl, Princeton – 1:35.91
6. Harris Durham, Harvard – 1:36.76
7. Marcus Holmquist, Harvard – 1:36.85
8. Lucas Tudoras, Princeton – 1:38.35

Harvard junior Ben Littlejohn swam stroke-for-stroke with his teammate, sophomore David Greeley, through the first 150 yards before hammering it home with a 23.9 fourth 50, outsplitting Greeley by a full second. It was Littlejohn’s second win of the weekend, after the 500 free last night.

Greeley held off Yale first-year Deny Nankov, whose second half was about a tenth faster, to take second place with 1:34.13. Nankov, in turn, kept fast-charging Max Kreidl of Princeton at bay to earn the bronze medal with 1:34.94 to Kreidl’s 1:35.37.

Top-seeded Mitchell Schott of Princeton finished fifth with 1:35.91.

Men’s 100 Yard Breaststroke – Finals

• Ivy Meet: 51.58, Jack Kelly, Brown (2024)
• Pool Record: 51.58, Jack Kelly, Brown (2024)
• NCAA A: 51.10
• NCAA B: 53.63
• 2023 NCAA Invite Time: 51.90

Podium:

1. Jack Kelly, Brown – 52.23
2. Matt Fallon, Penn – 52.28
3. Demirkan Demir, Columbia – 52.55
4. Charlie Egeland, Yale – 52.68
5. Sebastian Wolff, Cornell – 53.25
6. Alex Hazlett, Yale – 53.91
7. Harrison Powe, Brown – 54.25
8. Matthew Lou, Columbia – 54.74

Brown junior Jack Kelly, after having broken both the meet and the pool record in prelims, gave the Bears their first Ivy League Championships title in ten years with a 52.23 win in the 100 breast.

Yale first-year Charlie Egeland turned .01 ahead of Kelly at the 50, 24.29 to 24.30, but Kelly came home in 29.73 for the win.

Meanwhile, in lane 5, Penn junior Matt Fallon was charging through his second 50 and nearly caught Kelly. Out in 24.88, Fallon split 27.4 on the back half to finish in second place by .05 ith 52.28.

Columbia junior and defending champion Demirkan Demir also got past Egeland on the last 25 to come in 3rd with 52.55.

Men’s 100 Yard Backstroke – Finals

• Ivy Meet: 44.81, Dean Farris, Harvard (2018)
• Pool Record: 44.62, Dean Farris, Harvard (2019)
• NCAA A: 44.71
• NCAA B: 47.47
• 2023 NCAA Invite Time: 45.70

Podium:

1. Gunner Grant, Harvard – 46.35
2. Anthony Rincon, Harvard – 46.61
3. Tyler Hong, Princeton – 46.94
4. Isaac Beers, Columbia – 47.12
5. Oliver Pilkinton, Harvard – 47.37
6. Brett Feyerick, Princeton – 47.61
7. Aayush Deshpande, Harvard – 48.13
8. Blake Conway, Cornell – 48.17

Harvard senior Gunner Grant won his third consecutive Ivy League Championships title in the 100 back, going 46.35 to hold off teammate Anthony Rincon (46.61) and Princeton junior Tyler Hong (46.94). It was exactly the same podium as in 2023.

Columbia sophomore Isaac Beers passed Harvard first-year Oliver Pilkinton on the second half to earn a fourth-place finish, 47.12 to 47.37, while Pilkinton got his hand to the wall just ahead of Princeton junior Brett Feyerick.

Men’s 3-meter Diving – Consolation Final

• Ivy Meet: 464.55, Jonathan Suckow, Columbia (2022)
• Pool Record: 435.45, Jonathan Suckow, Columbia (2022)
• NCAA Zones: 320.00

Princeton first-year Luca Fassi scored 349.50 points to win the B final ahead of Yale’s Nicholas Chau (330.50) and Penn’s Cody Hopkins (328.90). Fassi was in third place for the first two rounds but scored 72 points on his third dive, a forward 2-1/2 somersault 1 twist pike, to vault to the top of the leaderboard, where he stayed for the next three dives.

Fassi, Chau, and Hopkins all cleared the Zones minimum of 320 points.

Men’s 400 Yard Medley Relay – Timed Final

• Ivy Meet: 3:05.51, Harvard (2023)
• Pool Record: 3:06.98, Harvard (2017)
• NCAA A: 3:04.96
• NCAA B: 3:06.84

Podium:

1. Harvard – 3:06.74
2. Columbia – 3:07.34
3. Yale – 3:09.04
4. Penn – 3:10.19
5. Cornell – 3:10.64
6. Princeton – 3:10.75
7. Brown – 3:11.00
8. Dartmouth – 3:16.46

Columbia, swimming in lane 1, came very close to upsetting Harvard, but fell short by .60 at the end. Harvard was out first with a 46.85 from Anthony Rincon. Gunner Grant followed with 52.37 David Schmitt (45.35) and David Greeley (42.17) brought it home for the Crimson, who finished with 3:06.74.

Columbia (3:07.34) earned the silver medal with Isaac Beers (47.00), Demirkan Demir (51.84), Brian Lee (46.26), and Zion James (42.24).

Yale came in third with 3:09.04 from Mak Nurkic Kacapor (47.55), Charlie Egeland (42.27), Alex Hazlett (46.86), and Ben Meulemans (42.36).

Team Scores Through Day 3

1. Harvard – 1124
2. Princeton – 926
3. Yale – 674
4. Penn – 591
5. Columbia – 577.5
6. Brown – 559
7. Cornell – 534.5
8. Dartmouth – 281