The Harvard men’s swimming and diving team began its drive to reclaim the Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League Championship (EISL) with a strong performance yesterday, leading the 10-team field after the first day’s six events at the Nassau County Aquatics Center on Long Island. The Crimson captured two individual swimming events and the one-meter diving competition, while defending-champion Princeton placed first in both the relay events and the 50-yard freestyle. Each of the five non-diving victories set a new EISL Championship meet record.

For Harvard, the strongest event of the day was the 200-yard individual medley, in which co-captain Dan Shevchik captured first with his record time, followed by junior Rassan Grant and senior Mike Gentilucci, completing a Crimson sweep of the top three positions. Similarly, junior Enrique Roy and freshman Danil Rybalko closed out the top two slots on the one meter platform. Performing as strongly as expected, junior John Cole broke the 500-yard freestyle record, touching the wall nearly four seconds ahead of his nearest opponent.

Despite the strong Harvard performance, the Tigers have stayed in the hunt by winning both relay races in record time, capturing the other individual event held and placing 12 swimmers in the top-eight. Though the Crimson holds a solid lead, such an advantage does not always guarantee victory. Only last year, Princeton roared back from a large deficit to capture the title on the final night.