The Harvard men’s swimming and diving team has started 2015 the same way it ended 2014. With a win.

With victories on Saturday against Duke and South Carolina, the Crimson (5-0, 3-0 Ivy) extended its dual meet win streak to three this season and seven including the end of last season. Harvard defeated the Blue Devils by a score of 199-95, and the Gamecocks by a score of 180-120.

"I thought yesterday was incredible. All of the guys were really tired, and we had a tough week and a half of training," co-captain Michael Gaudiani said. "We came back and finished strong against two hard teams.”

The meet was the team’s first since it returned from a training trip in St. Croix to kick off the 2015 portion of the season. Prior to Saturday, Harvard hadn’t competed since December 4th when it swam at the Texas and UGA Invitationals.  Despite the lack of official competition, the Crimson’s performances wouldn’t suggest that it had taken any breaks. 

“We’re constantly mimicking the race involvement in practice, so even though we haven’t had an official competition, we’re used to going fast in practice,” co-captain Griffin Schumacher said.

Harvard, which is ranked No. 19 by the CSCAA, topped the podium on eight occasions during the meet.

Schumacher claimed two of those first place finishes in both the 50 and the 100 freestyle. Both of these races were hotly contested by Schumacher’s own teammates, with the winner decided by fractions of a second.

In the 50 free, Schumacher finished with a time of 20.39 seconds. Sophomore Paul O’Hara finished a half second behind his teammate with a time of 20.90 seconds, with freshman Ed Kim in fifth with a time of 21.06 seconds. Senior Spenser Goodman was on Schumacher’s tail in the 100 free, as he touched the wall 0.32 seconds behind Schumacher’s time of 45.28 seconds.

“It’s really fun because we are going after it every day in practice and we are always right next to each other,” Schumacher said. “You know when you set up on the blocks, and you’re right next to your teammate, you have that confidence, and you look over and you see the same guy you see everyday in training. It kind of just allows you to take a deep breath and know this performance is something you’ve been practicing the entire year.”

Sophomore Jack Manchester also had multiple wins on the day, taking the 100 and 200 backstroke events. The Crimson swept the 200 back, with freshman Koya Osada and junior Christian Yeager rounding out the top spots.

On the board, senior Michael Mosca continued his domination of the three-meter event as he topped the podium with a score of 369.45. He was unable to sweep the diving events, however, falling to third in the one-meter, just ahead of freshman teammates Bobby Pfeiffer and Bobby Ross.

The tri-meet was Harvard’s last nonconference meet before NCAAs, as the team returns to Ivy League competition on January 17th against Brown and Penn. Despite the fact that the victories against Duke and South Carolina do not count towards Harvard’s fight to hold their title as Ivy League Champion, the meet holds value in that it takes the Crimson out of its comfort zone in the Ivy League with new competition.

“It’s kind of easy to fall into a rhythm swimming against the same guys for four years against other Ivy League teams,” Schumacher said. “Its good to face new competitors whether it be from the ACC or just other teams across the countries so we can use the experience from this weekend and translate it into more success in the Ivy League.”

—Staff writer Theresa Hebert can be reached at thebert@college.harvard.edu.