Yale Athletics
With the Ivy League Championships less than a month away, only Harvard and Princeton stand between Yale’s swimming and diving teams and a position at the top of the leaderboard.
The Elis travel to Princeton, New Jersey this Friday to face both the Crimson and the Tigers in their last meet of the regular season. The men’s team (6–1, 4–1 Ivy) has only seen itself on the losing side of the scoresheet on one occasion this season — a hard-fought meet against Columbia. The women’s team (7–0, 5–0) remains undefeated, trouncing teams such as Dartmouth and Penn by more than 120 points.
“We are looking to maintain our undefeated record at this meet,” captain Kendall Brent ’20 said. “The Harvard-Yale-Princeton meet has historically been some of the best competition that I have seen throughout my four years, and I know that it will be a great way to swim fast, dive new dives, and have fun as we come to a conclusion on the 2019-2020 season. We are looking to rise to the competition and race our best, while preparing for the end of the season meets.”
Harvard’s men and women also boast undefeated records against other Ancient Eight teams so far this season, with veteran women’s head coach Stephanie Morawski looking to add a 15th championship title to the Crimson’s record books. Men’s head coach Kevin Tyrrell’s 42–1 all-time record against Ivy League competition will provide historic upset potential for an Eli team hungry to prove its mettle.
Princeton’s swimming and diving teams have faced little resistance thus far this season, boasting an equally clean sheet against other conference teams. The men’s single loss this season came against Navy earlier this month, while the women’s only defeat came against Rutgers at the beginning of the season.
Yale’s women’s team, who is undefeated against both opponents in its last four outings, will be raring to bring that number to five. Last season it recorded wins of 182.5–117.5 and 186–114 against the Crimson and the Tigers, respectively.
Recent transfer from USC Caitlin Tycz ’22 has proven to be a valuable asset for the Elis, dominating the 100-yard and 200-yard butterfly events so far this season. Alongside Jamie Yeh ’23, Jessica Whang ’23 and Izzi Henig ’22, Tycz also plays an integral role in the 200-yard medley relay team that downed Cornell, Dartmouth and Penn.
The men’s team finds itself in a stronger position than that of preceding seasons, and will expect much closer levels of competition than in recent years.
Head coach Jim Henry may look to capitalize on the recent success of the 400-yard freestyle relay team. The quartet of Henry Gaissert ’20, Nathan Stern ’22, Philippe Marcoux ’22 and Joe Page ’23 recorded wins against Cornell, Dartmouth and Penn earlier this season. As relays score more than individual events, many members of the team will be hoping for yet another standout performance.
“Though the senior class is a bit sentimental for our last opportunities to swim and dive together as Bulldogs, we are prepared to lead the team into the most competitive showdown with Harvard and Princeton of our four years,” Gaissert said. “Depth will be the key to our success this weekend and I think the coaches have done a good job in writing a lineup that maximizes the point-scoring potential of each member of the team. Princeton has a very fast pool and each year this meet tends to bring the best out of many of our athletes.”
Competition begins in Princeton this Friday.
Ryan Chiao | ryan.chiao@yale.edu