Columbia Finishes Second at Bruno Invite

Friday, November 30

Providence, R.I.

All Day

Columbia University

Bruno Invite

Photo by: Columbia University Athletics/Mike McLaughlin

12/2/2018 8:16:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving

Bruno Invite Full Results (PDF)Day 1 Recap Day 2 Recap

The Lions claimed 11 victories over the three-day meet, including winning four of five relays

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Columbia men's swimming picked up four more victories on the final day of the Bruno Invite on Sunday evening at the Katherine Moran Coleman Aquatic Center, and the Lions finished second overall with 902 points, defeating Johns Hopkins, Rider, Villanova and Dartmouth. Princeton claimed the team title with 1,010 points.

Overall, Columbia won 11 events in the championship-format meet, claiming four-of-five relay wins and seven individual triumphs.

"It was a great meet for us," said Columbia head coach Jim Bolster. "The kids really did a nice job, very happy with the performances. They came ready to race and they raced well."

According to Bolster, the performances this week in Providence are a good indicator of positive things to come for the Lions.

"If they were feeling pressure, they didn't show it, and that's the key," said Bolster. "Hopefully they realize that if they keep the same frame of mind, same attitude going into the Ivy League Championships they can have a very similar experience. This was certainly good preparation and I think gave them a lot of confidence."

Senior Brian Tsau got things moving on the right foot for Columbia on Sunday night, winning the 1,650-yard freestyle with a time of 15:41.23. Sophomore Jack Scanlon was sixth in the event, coming in at 15:48.46.

Winning his second individual event of the meet, junior Nian-Guo Liu led a 1-2 finish for the Lions in the 100 free. Liu took the top spot in the event posting a career-best time of 43.81. Sophomore Albert Gwo was second, also dropping a career-best 43.93.

First-year David Wang picked up the Lions' third individual win of the day, firing off a personal-best time of 2:01.27 in the 200 breaststroke.

Two Lions appeared in the 'A' final of the 200 backstroke, with junior Cole Stevens claiming fourth in 1:47.05 and first-year Joey Licht swimming a sixth-place time of 1:49.03.

In the final individual event of the meet, senior Shane Brett placed third in the 200 butterfly at 1:45.41. Junior Zach Pear also finished inside the top eight, finishing seventh overall with a time of 1:48.52.

Sending things off on a high note, Columbia's 'A' 400 free relay group of Liu, Gwo, sophomore Adam Osowski and first-year Jonas Kistorp combined for a winning time of 2:56.05.

"Very good showing for the Lions," added Bolster. "Hopefully this will put us in a good frame of mind for this weekend as we try to take on the Princeton Tigers. They beat us in this meet, but it was a good meet."

Columbia will return to action next Saturday, Dec. 8, competing at home for the first time this season. The dual meet vs. Princeton is set to begin at 1 p.m. ET inside the Percy Uris Natatorium.

Team Scores
1. Princeton – 1,010
2. Columbia – 902
3. Johns Hopkins – 644
4. Rider – 450.5
5. Villanova – 358.5
6. Dartmouth – 325

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.