Harvard Concludes Undefeated Regular Season With Win Over Quakers

The No. 22-ranked Harvard men’s swimming and diving team capped off a perfect regular season (9-0, 8-0 EISL) this past Saturday with a win over the Penn in the Quakers’ home pool. With its 189-104 victory over Penn, the Crimson was also able to capture its sixth Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League regular-season title in 10 years.

“The undefeated season was a reflection of the time and efforts we put in,” Harvard coach Tim Murphy said. “We did what we needed to do and now we can put our focus on the championship meets.”

The Crimson won 13 out of the 16 events on the day, dropping only one relay and two individual contests, both to Quaker sophomore Pat Gallagher. But Harvard didn’t let the losses get to it, as its depth easily overpowered the Penn team.

“I think we basically just got the job done,” co-captain Sam Wollner said. “We were tired for this weekend and it was really about locking up the undefeated season and getting a bit of racing done.”

Many key performances combined to help Harvard secure its final regular-season victory.

Wollner placed first in two individual events, winning the 200-yard butterfly and 100-yard freestyle in times of 1:52.83 and 47.56, respectively.

The individual wins kept coming for the Crimson, as sophomore Simone Melillo captured the 100-yard breaststroke, while senior Michael Bowen and freshman Mike Polino took first in the 200-yard backstroke and 200-yard breaststroke, respectively.

Harvard continued its success in the other freestyle races, as junior Eric Lynch took the 1000-yard freestyle and sophomore Jordan Waterman won the 200-yard event.

Harvard added more wins in the 200-yard medley, as well as three individual events. Junior David Guernsey won the 200-yard IM, freshman Jordan Diekema took the 100-yard backstroke, and junior Bill Jones captured the 100-yard butterfly. Freshman Zac Ranta tallied points for the Crimson as well, with wins in both the one-meter and three-meter diving events.

“This team has definitely been the most focused and cohesive team I’ve been on since I’ve been at Harvard,” Wollner said. “That shows with our undefeated record.”

With the win over the Quakers, Harvard was able to do more than top off its regular season with a win—the squad built up additional momentum going into the upcoming championship matches.

“It’s been a very nice, steady progression both in the pool from a training standpoint and out of the pool from a team chemistry standpoint,” Murphy said of his team’s regular season. “They’re in a very nice position right now and we’ve got a couple of weeks where our focus is getting better from a skills standpoint.”

The Crimson will work to hone its racing skills before it heads back to Penn for the ECAC championships in Pittsburgh in late February.

“I think they’re prepared,” Murphy said. “Now it’s just a matter of being ready to get it done on a given weekend, which is easier said than done.”

—Staff writer Alexandra J. Mihalek can be reached at amihalek@fas.harvard.edu.