Non-conference opponents can often present a challenge, but the No. 23 Harvard men’s swimming and diving team had no difficulty in dispatching a trio of rivals from outside of the Ivy League this weekend.

The Crimson traveled out West for a pair of meets on Friday and Saturday, sweeping aside BYU (1-2) in Provo, Utah, before topping Utah (4-4) and No. 24 Denver (5-3) in Salt Lake City. The wins allowed Harvard (6-0, 3-0 Ivy) to maintain its unblemished record.

The Crimson’s efforts were spearheaded yet again by freshman Dean Farris, who picked up a team-high seven wins across the two meets.

The first-year’s classmates were not far behind, with freshman Daniel Chang collecting two individual victories, fellow rookie Zach Snyder racking up a trio of top-three finishes, and freshman Raphael Marcoux chipping in a relay win.

The strong performances in both meets added to what has been an impressive debut season for Farris and the Harvard freshmen in general.

“The freshman class has really stepped up this entire season,” junior Kent Haeffner said. “They've been doing all the right things in and out of the pool, and that's been reflected in the times they've produced. We're excited about what they can do going forward.”

Utah and Denver

Led by four wins from Farris, Harvard held off the Utes and No. 24 Pioneers by margins of 192-133 and 196-124, respectively, to improve to 6-0 on the season.

Despite having to stop late pushes from both opponents, the Crimson took top marks in eight of 14 events, placing swimmers on the podium in all but two races.

Farris played a part in half of the team’s wins. In the opening event of the meet, the first-year anchored the lineup of juniors Steven Tan and Shane McNamara and senior Max Yakubovich as the quartet took top marks in the 200 medley relay.

The meet ended the way it began, with Farris collecting another team victory in the 400 freestyle relay along with junior Ed Kim, senior Jack Manchester, and classmate Marcoux.

In between the relays, Farris also notched a pair of solo wins. The Atlanta native touched the wall first in both the 100 and 200 freestyle events. Snyder took third place in the 200 free.

Harvard showed the same depth it has all season, with the upperclassmen picking up a number of victories as well, starting with a win for sophomore Brennan Novak in the 1000 freestyle. Sophomore Logan Houck took third in the event.

McNamara notched a solo victory of his own in the 100 breaststroke, beating second-place Chang to the wall by less than a tenth of a second. Chang got revenge in the 200 breaststroke, taking top marks as co-captain Eric Ronda took second place.

Tan collected the Crimson’s final victory of the meet in the 100 butterfly, as Yakubovich finished less than a second behind the junior for third place.