NEW YORK – The Columbia men's swimming & diving team capped opening weekend with an impressive 198-102 Ivy League victory over Penn Saturday, Nov. 4 at Uris Pool. The Lions took down the Quakers for their second win in as many days and pushes their unbeaten streak at home to six, dating back to an 4-0 campaign last season.
For the second consecutive meet, first-year Jonathan Suckow set a new program record in the three-meter dive to earn another victory. With a winning total score of 425.03, Suckow bested his previous record of 420.83 set in his first ever collegiate meet against Army yesterday. He also added his first Ivy League sweep with a win in the one-meter dive with a top score of 372.98.
Veteran diver Jayden Pantel posted runner-up finishes in both events, including a score of 388.58 in the three-meter dive and 353.54 in the one-meter dive. Pantel passes the baton to teammate Suckow in his first ever Ivy League second-place finish in the three-meter dive.
The tandem of Cole Stevens, Jae Park, Kevin Frifeldt and Albert Gwo clocked in for a first-place time of 1:29.40 in the 200 medley relay to ignite the Lions in the pool. Nian-guo Liu gave the Lions their first individual win of the meet with a Uris Pool record time of 1:37.26 in the 200 freestyle, breaking the previous record of 1:37.64. He also added winning points in the 500 freestyle, clocking in with at 4:30.33.
Michal Zyla led the charge in both the 100 and 200 backstroke with times of 49.53 (100 back) and 1:47.54 (200 back), followed by Cole Stevens in second place at 50.18 (100 back) and 1:50.66 (200 back).
Columbia swept the podium in the 100 breaststroke, spearheaded by Eric Tong hitting the wall first at 55.93, followed by Jae Park at 55.96 and Jack Smith at 56.69. Albert Gwo was great in the 50 and 100 freestyle with winning times of 20.28 and 45.03 for victories in the fastest events of the day.
Jae Park joined the win column with his performance in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:01.49 and followed it up with a triumph in the 200 I.M. in 1:50.46. The Lions capped the win with a first-place finish in the 400 free relay as the squad of Frifeldt, Liu, Gullick and Gwo combined for a time of 3:01.43.
Up next, the Lions will return to Uris Pool on Saturday, Nov. 11 at 1 p.m. to take on Yale.
