Columbia Downs Army, 160-140, in Season Opener

Friday, November 2

West Point, N.Y.

5:00 p.m.

Columbia University

160

140

Army

Photo by: Columbia University Athletics/Mike McLaughlin

11/2/2018 9:58:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving

Results (PDF)2018-19 Schedule

The Lions took down the Black Knights in West Point on Friday evening to open the 2018-19 season

WEST POINT, N.Y. — The Columbia men's swimming and diving team started its season with a win on Friday evening, taking down Army, 160-140, at Crandall Pool.

Two Lions swept their respective individual events, while six different Columbia performers recorded individual victories. In all, Columbia won 10 of 16 events in the meet.

Junior Cole Stevens helped Columbia to its season-opening win by sweeping the backstroke races. In the 100-yard back, Stevens recorded a winning time of 49.24, while in the 200 back, he turned in a top time of 1:49.19. Stevens also earned a second-place finish in the 200 IM at 1:52.71.

Sophomore diver Jonathan Suckow swept the diving events by impressive margins, posting Crandall Pool records on both boards. Suckow dominated the competition on 3-meter with a 399.30, and posted a 357.67 on the 1-meter springboard.

"It was a great start to the season for our three Lion divers, highlighted by Jonathan Suckow's sweep, setting two new Crandall Pool records," said assistant diving coach Jonathan Schlafer. "We are excited to use the momentum of these strong performances to take us into tomorrow's Ivy League debut against Penn."

Junior Nian-Guo Liu recorded a first-place finish in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:39.15. First-year Shawn Lou came in third in the event, touching the wall in 1:41.49.

A 1-2 finish from the Lions in the 200 butterfly helped stretch the lead a bit, as senior Shane Brett earned the win in 1:50.07. Junior Zach Pear was just behind, clocking a 1:50.18.

In the 50 free, sophomore Albert Gwo sped ahead to finish first with a time of 20.46, which was .43 seconds faster than Army's second-place finisher.

Senior Brian Tsau earned Columbia's final individual win of the night, holding steady in the 500 free to post a winning time of 4:31.42. Liu ended in third at 4:36.09, while Pear was fourth in 4:37.76.

Columbia also posted victories in both relays. The Lions got off on the right foot with a victory from the 200 medley relay team of Stevens, Liu, first-year Jonas Kistorp and Gwo. The group went 1:30.47 to out-touch Army's second-place squad by more than a second.

To close the night, Columbia's team of Liu, junior Kevin Dang, Lou and Gwo teamed up to record a winning time of 3:03.57 in the 400 free relay.

The Lions will be back in action tomorrow, Sat. Nov. 3, traveling to Penn for their first Ivy League contest. The meet is set to begin at 1 p.m. ET, with diving events starting at 12:15 p.m.
For the latest on the Columbia men's swimming and diving program, follow @ColumbiaMenSwim on Twitter, @ColumbiaMenSwimming and @ColumbiaDiving on Instagram, and on the web at GoColumbiaLions.com