NEW YORK — The Columbia men's swimming and diving team returned to the pool for the first time in 2025 on Saturday afternoon at Uris Natatorium, and earned a big victory over Brown by a score of 165.5-134.5. On a day in which the program is celebrating its 125th anniversary, and also honoring its seven seniors, the win made it that much better. 

"It was a very good day for us," Head Coach Jim Bolster said. "I was very nervous going in, given everything that is going on this weekend with the program, that the team may have expanded too much energy. I knew there would be a lot of emotion, and it turned out they responded and did an incredible job with some great swims."

The first swimming event of the day was a great one for the Lions, as the 200-medley relay team consisting of Isaac Beers, Demirkan Demir, Brian Lee, and and Zion James took first place with a time of 1:29.28.

In the first individual swimming event of the day, Stephen Zhukov took home first in the 1000 free with a time of 9:14.75. Zach Vasser was right behind him in second place with a time of 9:20.72. 

Adam Wu followed that up with a win in the 200 free, clocking in at 1:36.73. Later in the day, Wu would also win the 200 fly with a time of 1:47.28. HE put a stamp on his excellent afternoon by winning 500 free with a time of 4:31.13.

Beers picked up a win in the 100 back, touching the wall with a time of 50.48. 

The Lions went 1-2 in the 50 free, with Samuel Eckert leading the way with a time of 20.36. Three tenths of a second behind him was James with a 20.66 finish. 

Lee would touch the wall first in the 100 fly, clocking in at 48.56 to all but clinch Columbia's win. 

The 400 free relay team put the finishing touches on the victory with a first place finish, as the team of Wu, Eckert, Gian Santos, and James finished at 2:59.27.

For the divers, Will Cooley led the way on the 3m board, finishing third with a score of 305.25. In the 1m competition, Joseph Nicol had the highest placement for Columbia, taking third with a score of 295.73. 

On Senior Day, Demir spent his last meet at Uris not only taking part in two relay victories, but also finishing second in the 100 breast and third in the 200 breast. Andrew Fouty finished second in the 100 fly in his final home meet. Tristan Pragnell took third in the 100 back.  Caleb Apodaca, Logan Cicman, and Jack Engel also had some solid swims. 

"All the seniors swam well and had a lot of fun," Bolster said. "They were kind of in awe at the alumni response, and they stepped up their game in a big way. Swimming is a difficult sport, and they closed a chapter of their lives on a high note today."

Full results from the meet, including all of the Lions' top performers and times, can be found HERE.

Columbia is back in action on Saturday, January 18 against Cornell in the first of three road meets to close the season. The competition will 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.