The Harvard men’s swim and dive team touched the wall first to end the 2013-2014 season. On Saturday, the reigning Ivy League Champions were first off the block.

The Crimson claimed victory in its first meet of the season, earning nine first-place finishes to top the Big Red, 169-131, and the Big Green, 246-54, at Blodgett Pool.

“I thought the team performed incredibly well for this early in the season,” co-captain Mike Gaudiani. “We had some great swims and rose to the occasion to race a rested and suited Cornell and a competitive Dartmouth team.”

The Crimson had big shoes to fill, losing several seniors from the class of 2014, notably NCAA Championship qualifiers Danny Crigler and Chris Satterthwaite. However, a strong freshman class helped bridge the gap in the team’s first of three home meets this season in Blodgett Pool.

The freshmen out-swam some of the veteran members of the team. In the 200-yard medley relay, a freshman squad of Koya Osada, Shane McNamara, Steven Tan, and Ed Kim edged sophomores Jack Manchester and Eric Ronda, junior Jacob Luna, and co-captain Griffin Schumacher by .28 seconds.

"The freshmen have already significantly impacted the team from a performance and culture standpoint," Schumacher said. "They all swam very well [on Saturday] and are pushing us in practice every day."

McNamara, a USA Swimming Junior National Team member, also finished first in the 100 breaststroke by a finger length, beating Big Red freshman Alex Evdokimov by .21 seconds. Tan also reached the top of the podium with a win in the 100 butterfly, out swimming teammate sophomore Max Yakubovich by .7 seconds.

In one of the closest and most exciting races of the meet, Ronda defeated defeated Cornell junior Victor Luo by .02 seconds with a time of 1:58.69. Trailing after the first two laps, the sophomore pulled ahead during the final 50-yard stretch.

Senior Spenser Goodman claimed victory in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:40.01. Goodman competed against his brother Slater, who is a freshman at Cornell and finished in 10th with a time of 1:45.68.

The Goodmans were not the only brothers competing in the meet, as Crimson sophomore Sean Satterthwaite faced off against his older brother, senior Cornell swimmer Tim Satterthwaite, in the first leg of the 400-yard freestyle relay, which the Big Red would go on to win.

On the boards, senior diver Mike Mosca picked up right where he left off last season as he swept both the 1-meter and the 3-meter competitions. In the 3-meter, the next closest competitor to Mosca was Harvard freshman Bobby Ross. Mosca finished the event with 432.60 points compared to Ross’ 331.65 points. Meanwhile on the 1-meter, it was Crimson freshman David Pfeifer who placed second, 302.25 points to Mosca’s 331.65.

With Saturday’s wins, the Crimson took its first steps toward matching its perfect record against Ivy League competitors last season. Harvard will have another chance to add to its win total next Friday against Columbia at Blodgett Pool.

"There definitely is a shift in mindset that comes with being the reigning Ivy League Champs," Schumacher said. "I think we’ve been doing a good job of staying away from complacency and drawing motivation from it instead. We know that the competition will be tough come February."