Strong individual performances earlier on Saturday evening gave Harvard a comfortable cushion going into the meet’s final event. Cromwell ended an outstanding weekend with a first-place finish in the 200-yard backstroke, and Rathgeber followed in third.

Rathgeber complemented that performance with a victory in the 200 individual medley and a third-place finish in the 400-yard IM in his first EISL meet.

“Coming in here,” Rathgeber said, “I wanted to prove that I was one of the best IMers in New England.”

Junior Bill Cocks enjoyed a breakout meet as well, establishing himself as the team’s top breaststroker after the graduation of standout Rassan Grant last year.

“I knew it was my job to try to fill [Grant’s] place,” Cocks said. “Last year I didn’t even come in top-24, and it really helped our team out this year. I’m really happy with the way I swam.”

Cocks gave the Crimson valuable points in the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke events with second- and third- place finishes, respectively. Christiana followed in fifth place, and senior Alex Siroky touched the wall in seventh.

The Crimson got a significant boost in Saturday’s 3-meter diving finals, in which junior Danil Rybalko placed second. Rybalko took second in Thursday’s 1-meter action as well, and freshman Lucas Sanders placed fourth in 3-meter competition and fifth in 1-meter.

But the weekend truly belonged to Cole, who made the best of his first EISL meet since 2003.

Returning to the squad after a year-long hiatus, Cole showed why his name dotted the Harvard recordbooks for the 500-, 1000-, and 1650-yard freestyle events. Cole swept the distance events again, the fourth time he has won all three races at the EISL championships. The accomplishment marks the first time in Ivy League history that a swimmer has swept the three events in each of his four years. Freshman Sam Wollner followed Cole with fourth place-finishes in both the 500- and 1650-yard freestyle.

Cole bested the second-place finisher in the 1650—Dave Ashley from Princeton—by just under 30 seconds and broke his own EISL record by 0.61 seconds. In relay competition, Cole’s critical third leg in the 800-yard freestyle relay put Harvard in first place for good. His efforts earned him the Phil Moriarty Award as the meet’s outstanding swimmer.

Cole was also awarded the Harold Ulen Award, given to the EISL swimmer with the highest point total over his career.

“I set a standard in my first two years [at Harvard],” Cole said, “and I wanted to come back and repeat those wins in the three events. These are good times for me right now.”

Cole will take his Eastern-best times to the NCAA championships, held at the University of Minnesota this year. In 2003, Cole earned All-America honors with a seventh-place finish in the 1650-yard freestyle at NCAAs.

“These seniors have had a really big impact on me,” Quinn said. “John Cole and James Lawler won so many events in this meet, it’s going to be a big loss when they leave.”

Lawler, also returning from a year off in 2004, proved just as dominant in the shorter distances. He opened the meet with a third-place finish in the furious 50-yard freestyle, in which he and teammate Krna—who placed second—finished within 0.01 seconds of one another.