More than eight-tenths of a second out in front after the first quarter of the race, Cromwell narrowly increased his lead before the halfway point before placing his endurance on display in the final 100 yards, adding 1.89 seconds to his lead over UNC's Reid Owen for a 2.88-second victory.

Complementing Cromwell’s backstroke dominance was the tandem of Krna, Knepley and George, who combined to dominate the freestyle events for the Crimson.

Krna placed first in the 50-yard freestyle, while Knepley captured top honors in the 100 with George taking second in the former and third in the latter.

But it was Grant who served as a one-man wrecking crew in the breaststroke.

He and senior Jonathan Lin blazed to identical times over the first half of the 100-yard event, but Grant left his classmate in his wake over the final fifty, pulling away for a 1.21-second victory, with Lin taking second and freshman Joc Christiana third.

“I kinda tried a different strategy,” Grant said. “I tend to start out a little slower, come back strong. I decided to start strong in the back of my mind.”

He did not take that message to heart in the 200, however.

Starting off with the third-slowest time over the first quarter of the race, Grant posted the fastest split-time over the final three fifty-yard segments for a 2.88-second victory.

Grant also took second in the 200-yard individual medley.

The Crimson towels off for exams, but returns to the water January 30 for H-Y-Ps against both Yale and Princeton in New Jersey.

—Staff writer Timothy J. McGinn can be reached at mcginn@fas.harvard.edu.