Men's swimming and diving splits matches in last dual meet of season

The men’s swimming and diving team (5-6, 2-5 Ivy) split a pair of meets to Princeton and Dartmouth this weekend, closing out its dual meet schedule.

The weekend began with a meet against the undefeated Tigers, in which the Lions unfortunately could not turn the tides on the league leaders, falling 174-117.
Princeton started the day on top, beating Columbia’s team of Johnny Bailey, Bruno Esquen, Darren Pagan, and Eric Tang in the 200 medley relay.

In the 1000 freestyle, freshman Sean MacKenzie took the top spot for the Lions, finishing second in 9:32.51 ahead of sophomore Alex Smith, who finished in third with a time of 9:44.53.
MacKenzie grabbed another four points for the Lions in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:42.24.

In addition, Tang was among the top scorers for the Light Blue, with his second-place swim in the 100 breaststroke in 57.00 seconds. His victory in the 200 breaststroke in 2:05.54 gave Columbia its first win of the day.

Sophomores Esquen and Robert Eyckmans represented the Lions in the 200 butterfly, taking second and third, respectively, with times of 1:54.72 and 1:55.18.
“We actually had a fantastic meet. We had kids swim exceptionally well,” head coach Jim Bolster said regarding the meet against Princeton. “We probably had close to 10 or 12 season best swims, so I was very pleased with how the kids swam.”

The Lions quickly turned around and brought the season to a close at home in Uris Pool with a 156-144 victory over the Big Green (3-9, 0-7 Ivy) on Senior Day.

The Light Blue took the top spots right from the start. In the first event, the three-meter dive, Columbia stole the first three spots thanks to the graceful dives of freshman Jason Collazo (310.95 points), junior David Levkoff (267.75), and freshman Michaelangelo Borghi (234.68).

The pool was filled with anticipation during the 200 medley relay, as the crowd cheered on the senior relay team to victory. Pagan, Tang, Nick Barron, and Jordan Kobb took out Dartmouth’s top squad, but also touched the wall just a hundredth of a second before the Columbia B team, though the B team was subsequently disqualified.

Columbia posted many other top times on the day, including Tang’s wins in the 100 and 200 breaststroke, Adam Powell’s victory in the 50 freestyle in 20.88, and Pagan’s success in the 100 butterfly.

“Darren Pagan won the 100 fly—50.7 [50.71 seconds]. That’s a lifetime best for him,” Bolster pointed out.
But the meet against the Big Green wasn’t about the Ancient Eight standings or improving the team’s overall record, since the men will get to prove themselves in the Ivy League Championships in three weeks. Rather, Saturday’s meet was about honoring the eight graduating seniors and their contributions to the program.

Of the seniors, Bolster said, “It’s rare that you get a class that is that together, that dedicated, that into what they’re doing. So today was their day and a tribute to them, and it was nice that it went in our favor.”