Bulldogs Sink Light Blue in Opener

The Columbia men’s swimming and diving team opened its season on Friday against Yale hoping to get off to a fast start. Unfortunately, the Lions found themselves down early and were unable to catch up despite a late-meet surge highlighted by dominant individual performances.

Yale set the tone early with a statement on the diving boards in the meet’s first event. Led by senior Jeffrey Lichtenstein, the Bulldog divers took the top three places in the three-meter dive. Columbia’s deficit would prove to be insurmountable after Yale won five of the first six events.

Despite the loss, the meet did have a few bright spots for the Lions. It was an exceptionally strong meet for Hyun Lee and Kevin Wakefield, who took first in three events. According to captain Henning Fog, the juniors benefited from hard work and training they completed over the summer to prepare for competing for the USA National Championship in August.

“We were all impressed with and grateful for the swims of Hyun and Kevin,” Fog said. “We’ll certainly be counting on the kind of frontline strength they can provide throughout the dual-meet season.”

Yale freestyler Alex Righi showed why he’s considered one of the best in the league, edging out Lee by less than half a second—and setting a pool record—in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 44.98 seconds. Righi also took first in the 50-yard freestyle while anchoring the 200-yard medley relay team.

Columbia managed to finish the meet strong, winning the last five events, and looks to pick up its first win of the season next Friday against Harvard. Despite a few disappointing performances and an unfavorable result, Fog is happy with what he saw from his team in being able to gain some momentum toward the end of the meet.

“We can still walk away satisfied with the results of this first meet,” Fog said. “As important to our season as a winning record is a sense of unity, and I was proud of the way we supported one another in every event. In both cheering and consoling, I saw a strong, healthy team.”