M. Swimming Defeats Big Green, Cornell

The Harvard men’s swimming and diving team picked up where it left off last season by dominating two conference opponents in the opening meet of the 2007-08 season, crushing Dartmouth, 226-72, in its home pool and edging Cornell, 161-139, this weekend.

“Last year, we had lost to Cornell, so we were looking for redemption,” senior captain Geoff Rathgeber said. “We knew that they were going to be tough, but we were confident in our ability to beat them.”

Although the Big Red won eight events to Harvard’s six, Harvard placed in second or third in all of the races in which it did not top the podium, providing enough points to triumph over Cornell.

In the 200-yard breaststroke and the 500-yard freestyle, the Crimson displayed the depth that earned it a victory.

In the breaststroke, Rathgeber came in first with a time of 2:06.04.

He was closely followed his teammates, freshman Justin Davidson, freshman Mike Polino, and sophomore Simone Melillo.

Harvard dominated similarly in the freestyle. Junior Eric Lynch placed first with a time of 4:35.42, with sophomore Alex Meyer and freshman Douwe Yntema following quickly mind.

Lynch also won the 1000-yard freestyle in 9:28.77.

This race, along with the 500-yard freestyle, earned him the distinction of garnering the most individual wins on the day for Harvard.

Rathgeber and senior Pat Quinn each won an individual race and a relay.

Quinn achieved victory in the 50-yard freestyle in 21.23.

Both Quinn and Rathgeber were on the 400-yard relay team that placed first in 3:05.56.

The Crimson did not place first in either of the diving events.

Big Green senior Alex Berry won both the one-meter and three-meter events, giving Dartmouth its only two wins of the day.

Harvard came in second in each of the diving events.

In the three-meter, senior Luke Sanders came in second with a score of 281.50.

In the one-meter, freshman Zac Ranta placed in second with a score of 280.05.

In the beginning of the meet, it did not seem like the Crimson would pull off a win.

Harvard was unfocused, and the Big Red capitalized on that weakness.

“Cornell definitely had a spark in the first half of the meet,” Rathgeber said. “We responded by winning the key races that got us a victory in the end.”

Another threat that the Crimson saw during the meet was Big Red junior Wes Newman, who won three races during the meet: 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard freestyle, and the 100-yard butterfly.

Victory was especially sweet for Harvard this year, as the Crimson lost, 167-131, in a close and hard-fought meet against the Big Red last year.

Next Saturday, Harvard will travel down to New York for another ECAC meet at Columbia.

Judging from the last trip to New York—when the Crimson suffered a close loss, 160.5-139.5—the Lions will surely be a fierce opponent for Harvard.

“We need to prepare and rest a little bit,” Quinn said. “They are going to want to beat us in their pool [again].”

After traveling to New York, Harvard will travel to Athens, Ga., to face some of the nations’ best teams at the Georgia Invitational.

The Crimson’s home opener will be on Jan. 25, when Brown comes to town.