Columbia University
Big Al Invite
Men's Swimming and Diving Finishes Second at Big Al Invite
12/4/2025 10:00:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving
Zion James, Isaac Beers and Derek Hitchens win individual events
PRINCETON, N.J. – The Columbia men's swimming and diving team traveled to New Jersey this weekend to take part in the Big Al Invitational hosted by Princeton. After three full days of competition, the Lions finished in second place with 1,269.50 points. Princeton won the event, scoring 1,491.50 points.
Full results from the entire competition can be found HERE. A recap from each day of the event can be found below.
DAY ONE
The 200 free relay team got things started with a second place finish. Zion James, Samuel Eckert, Kyle Won, and Adam Wu clocked in at 1:18.71.
In the first individual event of the day, Beri Yang (24.96) and Josh Corn (24.98) went 3-4 in the 50 breast.
First Year Derek Hitchens picked up the Lions' first win of the competition, taking first in the 50 back with a time of 21.90.
James also picked up a win in the 50 free, touching the wall first at 19.49.
Full results from Day One can be found HERE.
DAY TWO
Isaac Beers, Eckert, Brian Lee, and James got things started on day two with a third place finish in the 200 medley relay, clocking in at 1:27.09.
In the first individual event of the day, Jerry Yan took fourth in the 100 fly with a time of 47.80.
Beers went on to secure a win for the Lions in the 100 back, touching the wall first with a time of 46.65.
Full results from Day Two can be found HERE.
DAY THREE
Stephen Zhukov got the Lions off to a solid start on the final day of competition, finishing second in the 1650 free with a time of 15:11.92.
Lee directly followed that up with a third place finish in the 50 fly with a time of 21.58.
Beers had a great performance in the 200 back, setting a program record with a time of 1:41.98 which was good for second place.
James would pick up another win, taking first in the 100 free with a time of 43.04.
Kyle Won finished things up with a win in the 100 IM, touching the wall with a time of 49.29.
The Lions finished the weekend with a third place finish in the 400 free relay, touching the wall at 2:55.19.
Full results from Day Three can be found HERE.
DIVING
Meanwhile, on day one the men's divers competed in the 1m finals and Joseph Nicol had an impressive fourth place finish with a score of 295.95. Will Cooley took eighth with a score of 248.50.
On day two, Nicol finished seventh on the 3m boards with a score of 287.45. Cooley won the B finals with a score of 312.25.
On day three, Will Cooley dominated the platform diving event, winning with a massive score of 342.90. It was also very strong collegiate platform debut for first year Mackenzie Lu, who placed seventh with 252.40 points.
"Will was in complete control of this contest and I couldn't think of a better way to end the first half of our season," Head Diving Coach Scott Donie said. "He surpasses the NCAA zone qualifying score by over 40 points."
ON DECK
Following this weekend, the Lions will take a break for the holidays before returning to action on January 17 against Brown in Rhode Island. This meet is scheduled to begin at noon.
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.
Players Mentioned
