NEW YORK — Despite winning five events including both relays, the Columbia men's swimming and diving team dropped a 169.5-129.5 decision to the visiting Harvard Crimson at Percy Uris Natatorium on Friday evening.
 
Columbia earns its first loss of the season, moving to 3-1 overall with a 2-1 mark in Ivy League meetings, while Harvard rises to 3-2, 3-0 Ivy.
 
"Harvard is a good team, but so are we. It's important to realize that and race well," said 36th-year Columbia head coach Jim Bolster. "There were a lot of close races. The score is not as indicative of how close a lot of the races were ... Overall, I thought the guys did a nice job, stepped up well, raced hard and we've had a lot of racing. We've raced some of the best teams in the league, so that's a lot to take on but I was really proud of their effort and I think it'll pay off down the road when it counts most, at Ivies."
 
The Crimson went ahead early after posting a 1-2-3 finish in the opening 3-meter springboard and Harvard never trailed in the team scoring.
 
Senior Nian-Guo Liu continued a strong season for Columbia, posting individual victories in both the 200-yard freestyle (1:37.08) and the 200 IM (1:49.59). Junior sprinter Albert Gwo also remained undefeated in the 50 free, leading the Lions in a 1-2-3 finish with a winning time of 20.05. Sophomore Jonas Kistorp took second in the 50 free in 20.69, while first-year Eugene Li tied for third in 20.83.
 
In the opening 200 medley relay, the Columbia quartet of senior Cole Stevens, Liu, Kistorp and Gwo combined for a winning time of 1:29.18. The Lions also took third in the event as Baptiste Leger, Jonathan Chang, Ray Yang and Li finished with a time of 1:31.71 to help close the scoring gap.
 
Many of the races went down to the finish as many Columbia athletes placed second in their respective events. Leger earned a second-place mark in the 100 backstroke (49.95), Michael Chang was runner-up in the 100 breaststroke (57.31) and Yang took silver in the 200 butterfly (1:48.86).
 
After winning the 50 free, Gwo also touched second in the 100 free at 45.04. David Wang was runner-up in the 200 breast (2:03.89) and Kistorp rounded out the second-place showings in the 100 fly, going 48.76.
 
First-year Ben Blizard was the Lions' top finisher in both diving events among a strong field, placing fourth on both the 1-meter (302.10) and 3-meter (316.35) boards.
 
"Another day of very high-quality diving," said diving coach Scott Donie. "Great progress for all the men and a breakthrough for Ben as he records his first ever NCAA Zone qualifying score on the 1-meter. I'm really enjoying working with this fantastic group of athletes."
 
Wrapping up the meet on a high note, Columbia's 200 free relay squad of Gwo, Kistorp, Li and Liu turned in a winning time of 1:22.19.
 
The Lions will wrap up the 2019 calendar year at the Princeton's Big Al Invitation, Dec. 6-8. The three-day meet will follow a championship format, with preliminary sessions beginning at 10 a.m. each day and finals starting at 6 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.