Once Again, Tigers Edge Crimson

The Harvard men’s swimming and diving team claimed a second-place finish at the Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League championships this weekend in Princeton, N.J.

The Crimson totaled 1220.5 points, falling short of the Tigers, who won with 1405 points.

Harvard, led by junior Geoff Rathgeber, remained in second for all three days of the contest.

Rathgeber won commanding victories in the 200-yard individual medley, 400-yard individual medley, and 200-yard backstroke, setting pool records in all three and a meet record in the 200-yard individual medley. He also placed second in the 400-yard medley relay and 200-yard free relay.

Rathgeber tied sophomore Alex Righi of Yale for most individual points (96). The two were co-honored with the coveted Most Outstanding Swimmer Award.

“My swims pretty much surprised me,” Rathgeber said. “I didn’t know I was capable of going that fast.”

Junior Sam Wollner also put up exceptional times, capturing first place in the 1000-yard and 1650-yard freestyles and third in the 500-yard freestyle and 800-yard freestyle relay.

Sophomore Eric Lynch placed second in the 1650-yard freestyle and also gained fourth-place finishes in the 500-yard and 1000-yard freestyles.

Junior Luke Sanders took first and sixth place in the one- and six-meter dives, respectively.

Junior Pat Quinn, sophomores David Guernsey, Bill Jones and Dan Jones, and freshmen Mason Brunnick and Alex Meyer also gave solid performances to gain points for the Crimson.

Despite these strong results, the Crimson could not overtake the dominant Tigers, even after a close third day. Harvard was also hurt by a costly disqualification in the 200-yard medley relay, which it was leading at the time.

“Princeton was obviously very deep and that’s what won it for them,” Rathgeber said. “We lost a lot of key players last year. To come out of that season and hold our own against every other team in the Ivy League and finish second at Easterns was a pretty big accomplishment.”

Co-captain Brian Fiske, who swam his last Easterns this weekend, was proud of his team’s performance.

“It’s disappointing to get second, but everybody had some good races,” Fiske said. “I’m glad that we had this opportunity to go to Easterns and swim really phenomenally.”