Columbia Earns Second-Straight Ivy Win, Defeats Brown

Saturday, January 19

New York, N.Y.

12:00 P.M.

Columbia University

163

137

Brown

Photo by: Columbia University Athletics/Mike McLaughlin

Columbia Earns Second-Straight Ivy Win, Defeats Brown

1/19/2019 3:18:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving

Results (PDF)2018-19 Schedule

The Lions picked up a 163-137 victory over Brown on Saturday at Uris Pool

NEW YORK — The Columbia men's swimming and diving team earned its second-straight Ivy League victory on Saturday afternoon inside, earning a 163-137 victory over the visiting Brown Bears.

The Lions got out to a fast start, picking up victories in each of the first five events. Using that early momentum, Columbia never trailed in the outing.

"It was a good day," said Columbia head coach Jim Bolster. "I felt pretty confident that if we swam the way I thought we could that we would be fine and we took care of things early on the meet and were able to change the lineup a bit towards the end. Getting out to a big lead allowed us the chance to wind it down a little bit towards the end."

"We got off to a great start with the divers going 1-2," added Bolster. "Kevin on his last dive pulled it out, so that was great. I felt like the first relay was going to be close and could potentially set the trend for the meet, and we won it so that was a good start. And then after the 1-2-3 finish in the 1,000, we just kind of rolled from there. It was a good day."

The divers helped set the tone early, going 1-2 in the opening 3-meter springboard competition. Sophomore diver Jonathan Suckow took the title in 384.45 ahead of senior Kevin Fulton at 301.88. Suckow went on to also claim the 1-meter crown with a score of 407.78, while junior Shinya Kondo placed second at 281.40.

"Absolutely outstanding performances by all the guys," said diving coach Scott Donie. "They continue to rise to the occasion and the hard work they have all put in is becoming more and more evident as the season progresses."

Columbia's squad of Cole Stevens, Nian-Guo Liu, Jonas Kistorp and Albert Gwo helped get the swimming performances going with a winning time of 1:29.72 in the 200-yard medley relay.

Senior Brian Tsau continued his strong showings in the distance events, winning both the 1,000 and 500 free. He handily won the 1,000 with a time of 9:26.65, ahead of teams Jack Scanlon (9:41.43) and David Wang (9:43.28). Tsau registered a 4:34.16 to take the 500.

In his signature event, Liu won the 200 free with ease, going 1:38.34. The junior went on to also claim the 100 free, touching the wall in 45.30.

Three additional Lions added individual wins on the day. Stevens tacked on nine points for Columbia, winning the 100 backstroke with a time of 49.95. Gwo took the 50 free in 20.43 and Wang claimed the 200 breaststroke, going 2:05.09.

The Lions were scheduled to face off against Bucknell Sunday, but due to weather the meet has been canceled. Columbia will return to action next Friday, Jan. 25, facing off against Navy at 2 p.m. ET at Uris Pool.

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.