Army Men Beat Navy For the First Time in 32 Years

Star Meet: Army vs. Navy

• Dec. 1-2, 2022
• Crandall Pool
  • West Point, N.Y.
• SCY (25 yards)
• Results

The Army men snapped a losing streak to Navy in the annual Star Meet on Friday night that dated back more than three decades.

The Black Knights (5-1) beat the Midshipmen (7-1), 189-111, marking their first victory over their rival since Dec. 1, 1990.

The 𝓯𝓮𝓮𝓵𝓼 after a huge ⭐️ win‼️#GoArmy #BEATnavy pic.twitter.com/9X94J6tkNw

— Army Swimming & Diving (@ArmyWP_SwimDive) December 3, 2022

Owen Harlow headlined a huge meet for Army, winning the 50  free, 100 free, and 400 free relay while taking down a handful of records along the way.

Harlow first triumphed in the 50 free with a time of 19.43, lowering his own Academy record of 19.67 from last season.

The sophomore from Alabama then reached the wall first in the 100 free with a 43.07. That mark reset the previous Patriot League record of 43.61 held by Navy’s Zach Ingold that had stood untouched since 2012. It also broke the Academy record of 43.77 shared by Chris Szekely and Nate Hein.

Harlow capped his evening by posting the only sub-43 split in the 400 free relay to help Army pull out a victory over Navy by just four-hundredths of a second. Tanner Falls (43.90), Will Rankin (43.67), Harlow (42.97), and Jacob Powell (44.14) combined for a final time of 2:54.68, breaking the Crandall Pool record while also tying Navy’s Patriot League record from 2018. Garret McGovern (43.47), Austin Lockhart (43.95), Jonah Harm (43.66), and Everet Andrew (43.64) totaled a final time of 2:54.72 for the Midshipmen.

Army freshman Brice Barrieault put up the first sub-9:00 1000 free of his career, clocking an 8:59.31 to take down the previous Academy record of 8:59.81 set by Army’s Tom Ottman in 2018. Barrieault also placed second in the 500 free (4:23.14) as part of an Army sweep along with winner Wes Tate (4:21.31) and Ian Tansill (4:24.27).

Army swimmers also broke a pair of school records in backstroke events as Alex Edwards went 47.18 in the 100 back and Sam Wesley went 1:43.94 in the 200 back en route to victories.

Navy took the top two spots in the 100 fly behind Harm (45.81) and Pat Colwell (47.34). In the process, Harm broke his own school and league record of 46.19 that he set two weeks ago while also taking down the pool record.

“First of all, congratulations to the Army men’s swimmers and divers for the great meet they had,” said Navy men’s swimming head coach Bill Roberts. “We did not perform up to our expectations, and I take full responsibility for that. This is a terrific group of young men and leaders. We will learn and grow from this experience and will be better in the future.”

On the women’s side, Navy (7-1) extended its winning streak to 34 years with its 172.5-127.5 win against Army (2-3). It’s the longest streak in Army-Navy history.

Gabi Baldwin won the 200 back in 1:57.25, then claimed victory in the 500 free with a 4:52.00. Caroline Irwin won both the 100 fly (53.15) and 200 fly (1:57.66), the former time broke the pool record of 53.40 set two years ago by Navy’s Sydney Harrington.

“I am very proud of the way we stood up and raced tonight,” Navy women’s swimming head coach John Morrison. “There were lots of opportunities for changes of momentum and emotion to occur, but we didn’t let that happen. I am especially proud of how hard we fought in the last few strokes of each race.

“We came up here with a goal,” Morrison added. “We achieved it and learned a lot about ourselves. We can’t wait to race again.”

Highlights from the Army women included Academy records by Aurelie Migault in the 200 breast (2:11.11) and Layne Peterson in the 200 back (1:57.70).

Scores

Men

1. Army – 189
2. Navy – 111

Women

1. Navy – 172.5
2. Army – 127.5