Women's Swimming and Diving Set for Ivy League Championships

Photo by: Columbia University Athletics/Mike McLaughlin

Women's Swimming and Diving Set for Ivy League Championships

2/14/2023 5:30:00 PM | Women's Swimming and Diving

Live Results WATCH Championship Central Full Schedule

The competition will be hosted by Princeton from February 15-18th

NEW YORK -- The Columbia women's swimming and diving team is set to compete at the 2023 Ivy League Women's Swimming & Diving Championships at DeNunzio Pool on the campus of Princeton University. The meet, which is taking place from February 15-18, will have prelims beginning at 11 a.m. every day except Wednesday, with finals at 6 p.m. every day.

HOW TO FOLLOW
Visit the Ivy League's championship central for up to date information on the championships including schedule of events, live stats, stream information, tickets, and more!

LAST TIME OUT
The Lion closed out the regular season with a 197-78 victory over the Dartmouth Big Green in a dual meet on Saturday, January 28. Alice Diakova won both diving events, while Macy Pine and Chloe Leung placed second and third in both events to complete a Lions' sweep in both events.

Columbia also had a ton of success in swimming events, setting two Dartmouth pool records on the day. The first was in the 200-free relay as the group of Emily MacDonald, Isabelle Arevalo, Sally Ma, and Olivia Jubin touched the wall with a mark of 1:33.21. The other pool record was in the 100-breast, when Jubin finished in first place with a time of 1:02.88.

The Lions won 10 events in a row to kick off the competition, highlighted by Grace Zhou who won the 200-fly with a time of 2:03.36.

Riley Pujadas won the first individual event of the day, taking the 1000-free with a time of 10:25.97.Julia Unas followed that up with a win in the 100-back, clocking in at 57.63. Allegra Walker finished things off with a victory in the 500-free, touching the wall at 5:03.93.

CHAMPIONSHIP STYLE MEETS
Columbia has had a ton of success swimming in championship style meets so fat this season. The Lions had an incredible showing at the ECAC Winter Championships, finishing in first place along with some incredible individual showings.

On day one of the competition, MacDonald shattered a school record in the 50-free, taking first place in the event with a time of 22.66. This also set a new ECAC record. The team went on to break eight ECAC records in an a very successful first day.

The Lions began day two with a win in the 200-medley relay with a time of 1:42.44. Later that day, Allison Martin, MacDonald, Jubin, and Ashley Hu proceeded to win individual events. Then, the Lions wrapped up day two with their fourth relay win of the weekend, taking first in the 800-free relay with an impressive time of 7:28.25.

The highlight of day three came when Aziza Ganihanova set a new program record in the 200-back, taking first place with an impressive time of 1:57.35. This also broke the ECAC record in the 200-back, which was set by none other than Ganihanova herself, previously.

At last year's Ivy League Championships, the lions finished in sixth place. Much of the same core will be returning this year to swim in Princeton with much more experience under their belts.

THIS YEAR'S ROSTER
This year's Ivy League roster will consist of the following Columbia swimmers:

Seniors: Isabelle Arevalo, Olivia Jubin, Karen Liu

Juniors: Aniston Eyre, Aziza Ganihanova, Allegra Walker, Georgia Young

Sophomore: Ashley Hu, Emily MacDonald, Allison Martin, Riley Pujadas, Julia Unas

First Years: Sally Ma, Lindsay Orringer, Hayley Reed, Hutton Saunders, Grace Zhou

The divers heading to Princeton will be Alice Diakova, Chloe Leung, and Macy Pine.

For heat sheets, click HERE.

QUOTES
"Solid training and impressive racing have been the hallmarks of the 22-23 dual meet season for the Lady Lions," Head Coach Diana Caskey said. "Adding taper and rest to that equation should produce some exciting swims and overall results this week. We are excited for this championship meet."

"I'm really excited, and I think the whole team is really excited," swimmer Georgia Young said. "This has been a really special year with a really special group. We've already broken some pool records and program records, and had many other great performances, so the energy is really high going into this week."

"I'm super excited for the energy at the Ivy League Championships, it is always really good," diver Alice Diakova said. "I just want to get out there as soon as possible to show everyone how hard we have been working."

"We have been waiting for this moment since our season began," swimmer Emily MacDonald said. "We are really well prepared and I can't wait to see what the team can do."

ON DECK
Following the completion of the Ivy League Championships, the Lions will participate in the ECAC Championships taking place from February 24-26th in Maryland.

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