Women's swimming and diving cruises past Big Red in Homecoming meet

The stands at Uris pool were packed with fans and alumni this past Friday for the women’s swimming and diving homecoming meet. Columbia didn’t disappoint the crowd, dominating Cornell 179-121 and improving its record to 4-2 (2-2 Ivy).

The Big Red had an early lead in the meet, gaining the first and third spots in three‑meter diving. However, sophomore Stephanie Foster was able to finish second in the competition and the Lions came back to win the 200 medley relay, with Lacey Harris‑Coble, Mariele Dunn, Allison Hobbs and Katie Meili finishing in 1:47.26.

Abby Reilly and Molly Dengler helped the Lions surge ahead, finishing first and second in the 1000 free, and Paige Endsley made a strong contribution for her team by securing first place in both the 200 and 500 freestyle events. Reilly finished just after her teammate in the 500, coming in at 5:07.95.

In the 100 breast, teammates Meili and Dunn clinched first and second place, furthering Columbia’s lead, and in the 200 butterfly freshman Caroline Lukins had an exciting win over Cornell’s Christina DiMaria, beating the Big Red’s swimmer by only a fraction of a second.

The diving team raked in more points for Columbia, with Kristen Hehir placing first and Stephanie Foster taking third, and when the lanes opened again, more wins flooded in for Columbia. Mariele Dunn placed first in the 200 breast, touching the wall over five seconds before any of her opponents. Senior captain Caitlin Bertelsen dominated the 200 IM, finishing in 2:10.79, while teammate Isabelle Vandenbroucke placed second in 2:11.77.

Wrapping up the meet nicely, Columbia’s Meili, Endsley, Christina Hughes and Harris-Coble won 400 free relay, the last event of the day.

This meet was a special one for Columbia, especially for the seniors. Senior Katie Omstead remarked that “Homecoming is always a blast, mainly because we have a lot of friends and family in the stands that come to support, cheer for, and attempt to embarrass us. This year, not only did we have a really competitive meet to swim, but there were so many truly amazing performances and eventually an overall win that I think really made this homecoming especially fun.”

She looks forward to Columbia’s success throughout the rest of the season, saying “In all of my years on the team, we have never had as talented and as impressive a group of girls as we do this year. As seniors, it’s a bittersweet feeling to know that the end of our final year is so close, but I think all the seniors are endlessly excited to see just how amazing our team will be by the end of the season.”

The Light Blue’s success over the Big Red marks its fourth win in a row and improves the team 4-2. The next competition for women’s swimming will be in Norton, Massachusetts when they face off against Brown this Saturday, January 30th at 7 p.m.