NEW YORK — The Columbia men's swimming and diving team opened up the 2024-25 season in style on Friday afternoon, defeating the Penn Quakers at Uris Natatorium by a score of 188-111.
"Always feels good to win," Head Coach
Jim Bolster said. "Especially getting that first win and first Ivy League win under your belt. I thought that our kids swam quite well, and I was very pleased with our performance. The guys got real fired up for the season opener and did an incredible job."
The Lions opened up the meet with a massive victory in the 200-medley relay, setting the tone for the rest of the afternoon. The team of
Isaac Beers,
Demirkan Demir,
Brian Lee, and
Zion James finished with a time of 1:29.46 to take first place.
Jerry Yan,
Joshua Corn,
Lucas Zhang, and
Samuel Eckert finished second with a time of 1:31.26.
In the first individual event of the afternoon it was first year
Stephen Zhukov taking home first place in the 1000 free in his collegiate debut with a time of 9:17.17.
Zach Vasser was right behind him in second place with a time of 9:22.99.
Gian Santos also impressed in his debut, winning the third event of the day which was the 200 free with a time of 1:37.30.
Adam Wu and
Beri Yang finished right behind him completing the first sweep of the year for Columbia. Santos would go on to twin the 500-free later in the day with a time of 4:30.06.
Demirkan Demir was back to his old ways of dominating the breaststroke, winning the 100-breast with a time of 55.54.
Adam Wu picked up where he left off last year with success with the butterfly stroke, winning the 200 fly with a time of 1:46.96.
Zion James proved to be the best sprinter today, winning both the 50-free and 100-free with times of 20.50 and 45.95, respectively.
Brian Lee secured the Lions' last individual win of the day in the 100 fly with a time of 48.72.
In the final event of the day, Columbia earned a win in the 400-free relay. The team of
Samuel Eckert, Wu, James, and
Kevin Obochi touched the wall with a time of 3:03.08.
As for the divers,
Joseph Nicol took home a big win on the 1m boards with a score of 306.52. In his collegiate debut,
Will Cooley placed second on both boards, with a score of 311.62 in the 3m competition and 293.55 on the 1m boards.
"Outstanding performance in his first Ivy League meet and his first collegiate meet overall for first year
Will Cooley," Head Diving Coach
Scott Donie said. "And the sweep on 1-meter with Joe leading the way was particularly sweet. Great way to start the season. Go Lions!"
Full results from the meet, including all of the Lions' top performers and times, can be found
HERE.
Columbia will be right back at Uris on Friday, September 15 for a meet against Princeton. The competition is set to begin at 1 p.m.
For the latest on the Columbia men's swimming and diving program, follow @CULionsMSD and @CULionsDiving on Instagram and Twitter, and on the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.
