The men’s and women’s swimming and diving athletes traveled to Pennsylvania for their second Ivy League meet of the season against the University of Pennsylvania and Princeton on Friday, November 22nd and Saturday, November 23rd. The women’s team recorded impressive time losses despite losing to strong opponents, while the men’s team fought in a close duel to split the weekend.
Men’s swimming and diving (4-2) tied for the second straight year, defeated rival Penn by a margin of 158-142 for the first time in a decade and fell to Princeton 163-37.
“One of my main goals since joining the team has been to beat Penn,” senior captain Sebastian Wolff said. “Penn is and has always been a very strong team. Beating them gives us a lot of confidence for the rest of the season.”
Senior Soodong Kim was a highlight in the men’s diving, placing third in the one-meter competition with a score of 285.45 and fourth place in the three-meter competition with a score of 293.75. Freshman Max Reis Trovillion also put in an impressive performance, taking fourth place in the one-meter dash with a score of 262.45.
In swimming, a few clutch performances propelled the men to be competitive in a close competition. Junior Pietro Ubertalli was on the podium twice, with a first-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle and a second-place finish in the 200-yard backstroke. Sophomore Blake Conway impressed in the backstroke, placing first in the 100-yard backstroke and third in the 200-yard backstroke with a blistering time of 48.01. Senior Joseph Gurski followed suit in the butterfly events, placing first in the 100-yard fly and second in the 200-yard fly.
The defining moment came in the second meet when sophomore Julian Correa broke a school record in the 1,000-yard free with a time of 9:05.32.
“Breaking a school record so early in the season is not only a great challenge, but also proves that Julian’s own drive is high,” said Wolff.
Podiums continued to be a theme throughout the meeting. Freshman Josh Toothman took second in the 50-yard free, senior Dominic Edwards took second in the 100-yard free and the men’s 200-yard medley relay placed second. After a hard-fought battle, the men ultimately prevailed over Penn with second and third place finishes in the 400-yard free relay.
The women’s swimming and diving (2-4, 0-4 Ivy League) suffered two losses to Penn and Princeton by scores of 217-83 and 219-81, respectively.
In diving, sophomore Morgan Ogata put on an impressive performance, placing sixth in the one-meter diving with a score of 234.75 and third in the three-meter competition with a score of 275.90.
In swimming, several placings in the top three were the highlight of the competition. The women placed third in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:42.84. Junior Kate Li took third place in the 100-yard freestyle and sophomore Hojung Yoon followed with a third-place finish in the 200-yard backstroke.
Regardless of the losses, significant time drops across the board are promising for the women’s team. Freshman Sophia Sim placed fifth in the 100-yard fly with a time of 55.58, one second off her previous best, and fourth in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:02.51 – a time drop of two seconds. Junior Jungmin Yoon placed fourth in the 200-yard free with a time of 1:49.83, one second behind. Third-place sophomore Hojung Yoon’s 200-yard back time of 1:58.54 is two seconds off her previous best.
After many time improvements from the women’s team and an impressive performance from the men’s team, the swimming and diving teams will hit the pool again in Akron, Ohio, Thursday, December 5th through Sunday, December 8th at the first taper meet of the season – the Zippy Invitational.
