On Saturday the Columbia men’s swimming and diving team hosted Brown for this year’s homecoming meet. The Lions defeated the Bears, 186-112, in front of a packed and enthusiastic fan section.
The Light Blue had early success, winning the three-meter dive thanks to sophomore diver David Levkoff, who earned 270.23 points. In the 200-yard medley relay, the Columbia relay team of Steve Ko, Kevin Wakefield, John Dragelin, and Adam Powell finished first with a combined time of 1:33.82.
Despite the Lions’ powerful start, the Bears were able to win the 1000-yard freestyle as well as the 200-yard freestyle. The Lions, however, took back the momentum with strong finishes by Darren Pagan and Stephen Yang in the 100-yard backstroke. Pagan finished first with a time of 52.95 seconds and Yang finished third with a final time of 53.49. Columbia continued to dominate as Zach Glassman and Eric Tang went 1-2 in the 100-yard breaststroke in 58.50 and 58.63, respectively. Glassman later went on to win the 200-yard breaststroke, and Cedric Cheung-Lau, Robert Eyckmans, and Josh Brown continued to add to the Lion’s advantage, sweeping the top three spots in the 200-yard butterfly.
“In particular Cedric Cheung-Lau was our biggest star, winning all three events he swam,” Columbia coach Jim Bolster said. Cheung-Lau also finished first in the 200-yard backstroke and the 200-yard individual medley. Columbia also took the 50-yard freestyle and the 400-yard freestyle relay thanks to the relay team of Ko, Dragelin, Wakefield, and Powell.
The meet against Brown was important for Columbia as it got the team back on the winning track.
“It was nice to return home and have performances that restored their confidence,” Bolster added. “We are still transitioning from our winter training and we had some guys battling sickness, but we were able to win more of the closer races against Brown and that is what put us over the top.”
That was certainly the case Saturday as the Lions were in control for the entirety of the meet. Next on the schedule for Columbia is Navy, which has done exceptionally well against Ivy League opponents this year, on Feb. 6 at Uris Pool.
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