Men's Swimming & Diving
On Friday, the men's swimming and diving team out-swam Columbia by 30 points — in its adopted home pool in Lowell, Mass. — in the most exciting meet of the season to bring its record to 2-2 in the Ivy League, said Head Coach Peter Brown.
The Bears started the meet with solid second-place finishes, and led the Lions by five points after the first five events. Tucker Wetmore '10 picked up the momentum and won Brown's first gold medal of the night in the 200-yard freestyle event with a time of 1:42.91.
The rest of the meet was packed with close events. John Hug '13 barely out-touched Columbia's Sean Mackenzie to win gold in the 500-yard freestyle, and Ryan Kikuchi '11 crossed the line just .09 seconds ahead of teammate Ian Slater '13 in the 200-yard backstroke.
"A couple of events came down to the last five yards, and unfortunately we did not win enough of them," said Columbia Head Coach Jim Bolster.
Brown finished the meet on a high note — winning the 400-yard freestyle relay by more than two seconds — and went on to defeat Columbia, 168-138.
"This meet was one of the best in a couple years, and I am very proud of (the team)," Brown said. "We were competing well and supporting each other, and that is necessary for success."
The team will take on Yale on Wednesday in its home pool in Lowell.
Women's Swimming & Diving
It all came down to the final relay in the women's swimming and diving meet, and Columbia finished just 1.12 seconds ahead of Brown to win the race and the meet, 156-144, this past Friday in Lowell.
"The meet was extremely close and competitive, and it was the best team effort this year by far," said Head Coach Peter Brown.
The dual meet started with the 200-yard medley relay, and Bruno crossed the finish line more than a full second ahead of the Columbia squad. The Lions answered back by taking gold in the 1000-yard freestyle, and the ping-pong matched continued, as neither team ever had a deficit greater than eight points.
Columbia finished the meet 12 points ahead to extend its winning streak to five meets.
Despite the loss, Brown applauded the team, noting that his squad "has good momentum and is competing well."
The Bears will swim against Yale in a dual meet on Wednesday.
