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Mixed Results To Begin Fall Campaign

The Harvard men’s swimming and diving team kicked off its season this past weekend with mixed results.

The Crimson fell to a formidable non-conference foe in Texas A&M on Friday at Harvard’s home Blodgett Pool with a score of 131.5-102.5.

But the men were able to rally in Ithaca, N.Y. on Saturday and claim a tri-meet victory over two Ivy League opponents, Cornell and Dartmouth.

“[Friday] was a bit more of a struggle, but we fought through it,” senior co-captain Tommy Gray said. “It was a really good prep for the meet against Cornell, [which] really got the ball rolling.”

With an ultimate goal of remaining undefeated in Ivy matchups this season, the Crimson swimmers and divers are showing impeccable form in their starts.

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HARVARD AT CORNELL, VS. DARTMOUTH

Harvard began its first Ivy League meet with a bang, as a team of underclassmen captured the opening 200-meter medley relay event. Sophomores Rob Newell, Niall Janney, and Nicholas DuCille and freshman Owen Wurzbacher combined for a 1:33.67 finish, six seconds faster than their seed time.

The Crimson followed this with a strong 1-2-3-4 finish from its distance swimmers in the 1000-yard freestyle.

Senior Mason Brunnick led the pack and touched the wall in a decisive 9:28.86, over thirty seconds faster than the closest Cornell or Dartmouth swimmer.

Senior co-captain Alex Meyer and junior Blake Lewkowitz followed Brunnick, finishing almost simultaneously with times of 9:46.63 and 9:46.78, respectively. Junior Jamie Mannion pulled in a solid fourth place.

The victories kept coming for Harvard, as Meyer claimed the 500-yard freestyle in 4:36.51, and junior Douwe Yntema won the 200-yard freestyle against stiff competition with a time of 1:42.49.

Members of the opening 200-meter medley team also claimed individual wins for the Crimson. Newell placed first in the 100-yard backstroke with a 51.50 time and led Harvard’s 1-2-3 finish in the 200 backstroke, followed by freshman Greg Pelton and sophomore David Lynch.

DuCille brought home the gold in the 50-yard freestyle and swam the first leg of the winning 400-yard freestyle relay team.

Freshman Brendan McIntee, sophomore Eric Taylor, and junior Will Heyburn combined with Newell for first in the relay and a time of 3:07.33.

Junior diver Zac Ranta claimed the 3-meter dive with a score of 317.70 to finish the meet, bringing the Crimson’s total event victories up to nine.

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