NEW YORK — The Columbia men's swimming & diving team was ranked 21st in SwimSwam's New Years edition of NCAA Power Rankings, which was released yesterday, January 5. The Lions move up one spot, from their initial ranking of 22nd to begin the season which carried over through the October edition of the power rankings.

The full release and rankings can be found HERE. 

After finishing the 2021-22 season ranked 24th, the Lions came into the 2022-23 season carrying a designation of 22nd thanks to the return of senior diver Jonathan Suckow. The Switzerland native earned 30 points in last year's NCAA competition, sweeping all four diving events. A similar performance at this year's NCAA Championships and he will single-handedly keep Columbia in the running for a top-25 spot to close the year once again. 

The emergence of Adam Wu can be attributed to the Lions' rise in the power rankings this go around. Wu made his collegiate debut against Princeton at Percy Uris Natatorium on November 11, and immediately made an impact. The first year swimmer set a pool record in the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:46.84, and picked up victories in the 200 free (1:37.23) and 500 free. Wu went on to win six more events in the Lions' next two meets, along with an impressive performance at the Big Al Invite. 

"Diver Jonathan Suckow–who scored all of Columbia's 30 points last year–has been performing well, recently winning both the 1m and 3m boards at the Big Al Invite," SwimSwam writer Sophie Kaufman said. "Freshman Adam Wu is worth keeping an eye on too; he's living up to the hype."

So far this season, Columbia holds a 4-1 overall record with wins over Army, Princeton, Penn, and Yale. The Lions finished in third place at the Big Al invite hosted by Princeton prior to the holiday break. 

KEEPING UP WITH THE LIONS - For the latest Columbia men's swimming and diving program, follow @CULionsMSD, @CULionsWSD and @CULionsDiving on Instagram and Twitter, and on the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.