NEW YORK — Senior Nian-Guo Liu reset his own Percy Uris Natatorium record in the 200-yard freestyle and the Columbia men's swimming and diving team won its second dual meet in as many days, downing the Penn Quakers, 179-121, in the Ivy League and home opener.
 
"It was a good day for the Lions," said Columbia head coach Jim Bolster. "Any time you beat an Ivy opponent is great. Penn has some talents in a couple different areas that we don't, but we were able to maximize our talent in the other events which more than made up for their strength in the distance events. I thought the guys swam well. Where we need everybody to step up, they did.
 
"We weren't maybe as sharp in some events as we were last night with certain individuals, but the first meet of the year is always a good psych meet for everybody and it's hard to come back and swim fast the next day, but I thought they responded well to that challenge."
 
"Solid performances from all the divers today," added diving coach Scott Donie. "There are a few things that we need to work on, and that's what we plan to do."
 
The Lions nabbed wins in eight individual events, plus claiming top honors in both relays. Across eight individual wins, Columbia showed its depth with eight different winners in each of those events.
 
In the opening 200-yard medley relay, Columbia used the quartet of senior Cole Stevens, Liu, sophomore Jonas Kistorp and junior Albert Gwo to post a winning time of 1:29.80, improving on Friday's time of 1:30.68 against Army.
 
The Quakers showed their strength in the distance events early, posting a 1-2-3-4 finish in the 1,000 free, but Liu responded in a big way by setting the pool record in the 200 free, going 1:36.95 ahead of first-year Thomas Shepanzyk who placed second (1:40.79).
 
Columbia staked its claim in the backstroke events, posting 1-2-3-4 finishes in both. Stevens led the Lions in the 100 back (50.06), while junior transfer Baptiste Leger came into the wall first in the 200 back (1:48.42). Columbia also swept the butterfly races as rookie Ray Yang won the 200 fly in 1:49.75, while Kistorp triumphed in the 100 fly (49.32).
 
Yang wasn't the only freshman to post an individual win on the day, as diver Ben Blizard got his first collegiate victory in the 1-meter (290.55) and Eugene Li brought home a top finish in the 100 free, leading a 1-2-3 finish for Columbia ahead of Shepanzyk and senior Kevin Dang.
 
Rounding out the individual winners was junior Gwo, who won the 50 free for the second day in a row, although improving upon the previous day's time at 20.05 compared to Friday's 20.36.
 
The Lions tied the bow on top, wrapping up the meet with a 400 free relay victory from Liu, Dang, Li and Ji Ho Hyun, clocking in at 3:04.65.
 
Returning home next weekend, Columbia welcomes Yale to Uris Natatorium on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 1 p.m. ET.
 
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.