Men’s Swimming and Diving Stays Hot with Convincing Victory over Cornell

Saturday, January 24

New York, N.Y.

12:00 p.m.

Columbia University

203

Cornell

Photo by: Columbia University Athletics / Alicia Yu

Men’s Swimming and Diving Stays Hot with Convincing Victory over Cornell

1/24/2026 7:00:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving

Results

The Lions took down the Big Red, 203-97, at Uris on Saturday

NEW YORK — The Columbia men's swimming and diving team earned a decisive Ivy League victory on Saturday afternoon, defeating Cornell, 203-97, at Percy Uris Natatorium. The win marked Columbia's second consecutive Ivy League victory to open the 2026 calendar and its third conference win of the season.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Columbia Men's Swim & Dive (@culionsmsd)

"The Lions swam well in earning a good win over Cornell today," Head Coach Jim Bolster said. "Right from the start we attacked our swims in an effort to keep the Big Red from gaining any momentum and it worked as we won the first four events and never looked back."

Columbia set the tone immediately, winning the opening 200 medley relay as the A team of Isaac Beers, Beri Yang, Brian Lee, and Zion James touched first in a pool record time of 1:26.28.

The Lions followed that performance with a dominant showing in the distance events, led by Zach Vasser's victory in the 1000 freestyle (9:03.82), with Stephen Zhukov finishing second and Bryce Key adding a fourth-place result to secure major early points.

The Lions controlled the freestyle events throughout the afternoon. Gian Santos captured wins in both the 200 freestyle (1:36.37) and the 500 freestyle (4:28.36), while Adam Wu added a second-place finish in the 200 free. In the sprints, James delivered a pair of victories, touching first in the 50 freestyle (19.56) and the 100 freestyle (43.59).

Columbia also posted strong results in the stroke events. Beers won the 100 backstroke with a new pool record of 46.81, while Wu claimed first in the 200 butterfly (1:46.91). Jerry Yan added another win for the Lions in the 100 butterfly (47.98). In the breaststroke events, Joshua Corn captured the 200 breaststroke title (1:56.59) and finished second in the 100 breast, with Yang contributing additional points.

The Lions were dominant in the individual medley events, as Santos won the 200 IM (1:49.23), followed closely by Ali Elmasry in second. Elmasry also added points with a runner-up finish in the event, continuing Columbia's depth across disciplines.

Columbia closed the meet in emphatic fashion, winning the 400 freestyle relay. The A relay of Wu, Samuel Eckert, Derek Hitchens, and James touched first in 2:55.44 to seal the Ivy League victory.

On the boards, Joseph Nicol delivered a standout performance, winning both the 3-meter dive (319.13) and the 1-meter dive (318.68). Will Cooley and Derek Hong added scoring finishes in each event to further extend Columbia's advantage.

"Joe was struggling a little in the first event and came back to win it," Head Diving Coach Scott Donie said. "Really clutch when it counted. Everyone is lifting their game and we are really looking forward to our senior meet next weekend."

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

Columbia returns to Uris Natatorium on Saturday, January 31, hosting Senior Day against Dartmouth at 3 p.m. in the Lions' final home meet of the regular season.

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.