CAMBRIDGE, MASS. -- Yesterday after the first day of three at the Eastern Intercollegiate Swim League (EISL) Championships, 47 points separated the Lions, who held third place, and seventh place.
Today, that gap between third and seventh increased to 239 points as the Lions began to distance themselves from the pack with a team total of 694.5 points. Harvard leads with 949, Princeton is second with 910, and Yale is the closest team to Columbia with 583.
Ben Collins had the swim of the day for the team, as the senior co-captain took second in the 400-yard individual medley in 3:53.07 to meet the NCAA `B' standard and earn second-team All-Ivy honors. Fellow senior co-captain Mike Bentley was sixth in the event with a time of 4:00.38. In the consolation heat, first-year Steve Searles took third (11th overall) in a time of 4:04.23, more than 4.5 seconds faster than his preliminary time in the morning. Junior Matt Klausmeier was 19th overall in 4:09.70.
The Lions had two championship finalists in two other events: the 100 breast and 100 back. In the former event, sophomore Michael Nelson swam 56.19 for third place, just two-hundredths away from second and second-team All-Ivy honors. Junior John McGrath was sixth in 57.12. Michael Emory swam the consolation final and was 15th overall in 59.84.
Youth served the Lions well in the 100 back. First-year Evan Lindenschmidt, who only had the team's fifth-fastest time in the event during the dual-meet portion of the season, exploded for a time of 50.85 to take sixth in the championship final. He was followed immediately by sophomore Luke Fitzpatrick in 51.07. Searles was again a key contributor in the consolation final, finishing 13th overall in 51.83. Senior Andrew DiMichele won the bonus final in 51.46 and Ben Neuwirth was 20th overall in 52.24.
Tobin White was Columbia's other third-place finisher in the evening session. The sophomore swam 1:38.20 in the 200 free to set a school record, meet the NCAA 'B' cut and finish more than a full second faster than his time in the event in 2004. Junior Mat Rothway was 16th in the event in 1:42.34 and Rusty Corley was 19th.
One of the team's top performances in the evening session actually occurred in the morning. First-year Henning Fog swam 9:17.64 for the 1000 free for the fastest time of the morning. The top eight seeds in the event swam in the evening session, but only three of the higher-seeded athletes bettered Fog's time, giving him fourth overall. Sophomore Jake Abbott was 12th in 9:28.80 and David Bazylewicz was 17th.
Neuwirth was the Lions' other top-five performer for the day. The junior swam 49.60 for fifth place in the 100 fly.
One day of action remains at the EISLs. The Lions finished third last winter, which marked the team's highest finish at the league championships since 1978.
