Senior swimmer Katy Hinkle put in a pair of stellar relay performances, helping the Crimson women to victories in the 400-yard medley and 200-yard freestyle relays, setting a pool record in the latter.

Yale wasn’t the only Ivy League opponent bested by Harvard this weekend.

The afternoon before the highly anticipated football game, the women of the Crimson swimming and diving team took on Columbia at the Percy Uris Natatorium for their third match of the season. Harvard (3-0, 3-0 Ivy) bested the Lions (0-2, 0-2) and nabbed the top spots in 10 of 16 events en route to a 189-111 victory.

“I think the team did really well,” freshman Jenna Gregoire said. “We have really great depth, and in every single race people put up fast times and race to win.”

The Crimson was putting up strong performances right from the first event—in the 3-meter diving competition, Columbia’s top performance by freshman Katie Furr was good enough for only fifth place. Junior Leslie Rea led the sweep of the top four slots with 277.13 points; sophomore Brittany Powell, freshman Schuyler Moore, and senior Jenny Reese filled in the second, third, and fourth spots, respectively.

The 400-yard medley relay was next up, and the Harvard swimmers followed up the divers’ dominance with another win. Senior Katy Hinkle, sophomore Kelly Robinson, junior Alicia Lightbourne, and Gregoire put together a strong run for a finish time of 3:50.63.

Hinkle also snagged event wins in the 100-yard backstroke and the 200-yard freestyle relay. Adding in her races at the tri-meet against Dartmouth and Cornell, the Arlington, Va. native can count three new pool records and an impressive five event wins on the young season.

The one race Hinkle failed to win was the 100-yard freestyle, where the sprinter claimed second place to sophomore Lion Katie Meili. The Texan finished first with a time of 51.49, and she also swam to first-place finishes in the 50-yard freestyle and the 400-yard individual medley.

Senior Annie Perizzolo, Meili’s teammate, also put up impressive times as she topped her competition in the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke.

But Perizzolo’s and Meili’s leading performances were ultimately eclipsed by a steady Crimson effort.

“It was definitely a team effort,” co-captain Ali Slack said. “We went into it really trying to keep the momentum up from the week before, and I definitely think we succeeded. The first relay got us off to a great start, and from there on, everyone stepped up and swam well.”

Slack also noted the electric atmosphere that kept the entire team on its toes.

“Everyone was cheering and was very excited,” Slack explained. “As a senior, I’ve been to a lot of meets, and I think this was the most excited we’ve been.”

The squad’s unwavering enthusiasm was instrumental in keeping the team motivated and working hard through all 16 events. In the day’s final event, Gregoire, Slack, and junior Monica Burgos shared Hinkle’s victory in the 200-yard freestyle relay, and the quartet broke an Uris pool record with the facility-best time of 1:35.57.

“The relays really made a statement,” Gregoire said.

In addition to the strong relay performances, many strong individual showings came in from all class years for Harvard.