Suckow Sweeps Diving Titles, Lions Finish Fourth at Ivy League Championships

Saturday, March 2

Providence, R.I.

Columbia University

Ivy League Championships (Day 4)

Jonathan Suckow sweeps the 2018 Ivy League diving titles

Suckow Sweeps Diving Titles, Lions Finish Fourth at Ivy League Championships

3/2/2019 10:07:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving

Complete Results (PDF)

Columbia used an impressive final night to finish in the top half of the Ivy League for the third-straight year

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The Columbia men's swimming and diving team concluded its run at the 2019 Ivy League Championships on Saturday evening, placing fourth in the team standings with 1,037 points to finish in the top half of the league for the third-consecutive year.

In a tight battle for fourth place throughout the whole week, it went all the way down to the last relay where the Lions needed to finish within two spots of Yale. Columbia's fifth-place showing in the 400-yard freestyle relay proved to be enough, as the Lions edged Yale in the team standings by merely 1.5 points.

"I don't know if you could've scripted it any better," said Columbia head coach Jim Bolster. "It went down to the last relay, and we took fourth. I knew there would be a really good battle for third, fourth and fifth, and I couldn't be more pleased with the team performance, especially today. We were down 20 points to Yale and they had one more swim than we did today, so to make up those 20 points, I told the guys what needed to be done and they went out and accomplished it.

"It was just a great battle back-and-forth. Our kids did everything they needed to do and got it done. Very excited for them, happy for them, proud of their effort and it's just a good example of what college athletics is supposed to be about."

Sophomore diver Jonathan Suckow played a huge part in the night's success, winning the 3-meter diving competition by more than 80 points to set the Katherine Moran Coleman Aquatics Center record in the event with a score of 442.35. After winning Thursday's 1-meter competition, Suckow swept the diving competition for the second consecutive year to be named the Karl B. Michael High Point Diver of the Meet for the second time in as many years. It marks the fourth year in a row in which Columbia has swept the Ivy League diving titles as Jayden Pantel '18CC did so in 2016 and 2017.

"What a night!" said head diving coach Scott Donie. "Jonathan was absolutely incredible. He performed at such a high level. One of his dives even scored a perfect 10. That is the first 10 I have seen since I came to the Ivy League. He is simply the best diver in the league, and he reconfirmed that this weekend."

Columbia opened up the night with some strong swims in the 1,650 freestyle as all three of Columbia's entries finished in the top 15. Sophomore Jack Scanlon was just shy of a podium finish, taking ninth at 15:30.47. First-year Shawn Lou was just behind him with a time of 15:31.61, and senior Brian Tsau ended up in 13^th with a time of 15:35.11.

"We switched events with Shawn Lou," explained Bolster. "He had struggled throughout the week, so instead of putting him in the 100 free we put him in the 1,650 free and he ended up 11th. When we put him in it, we thought he might score two points and help us get closer. He ended up getting 16 points, so that was kind of indicative of the kind of performances we needed tonight."

First-year Joey Licht made his second appearance in a championship final this week, placing sixth overall in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:45.78 to round out a good showing in his rookie season. Junior Cole Stevens placed 10^th overall in the event at 1:46.29, and junior Joe Skimmons placed 16th at 1:48.78.

Two Lions made their way to the podium in the 100 freestyle on Saturday, as junior Nian-Guo Liu finished seventh at 43.57 and sophomore Albert Gwo took eight overall at 43.71. First-year Jonas Kistorp was 11^th overall with a time of 43.65, competing in the 'B' final of the event.

The 200 breaststroke saw a pair of Lions make their Ivy finals debuts, as first-year David Wang placed seventh at 2:01.58 senior Pearce Kieser went 2:01.59 to finish eighth. Both had huge drops in the morning's prelims sessions as Kieser went a lifetime best 1:59.34 to qualify sixth overall and Wang went a personal-best 1:59.57 in the morning qualifiers. First-year Jonathan Cheng also score with a 19th-place showing at 2:00.78.

Senior Shane Brett capped off his Ivy League career with a huge swim in the 200 butterfly, going 1:43.40 to earn the bronze medal in the event. He dropped 1.59 seconds from his prelims time for a lifetime best performance. Junior Zac Pear was runner-up in the 'B' final with a time of 1:46.90, and junior Lexo Walker scored his first points of the meet, placing 11th overall in 1:47.88.

The Lions capped off the meet with a fifth-place showing in the 400 free relay, with Nian-Guo Liu, Kistorp, Adam Osowski and Gwo combining for a time of 2:54.26.

Columbia's divers will return to action in just over a week, heading to Annapolis, Maryland for the NCAA Zone A Diving Championships, March 27-30.

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.