Courtesy: DSPics.com Bill Jones and the Crimson were 6-1 against Ivy teams in the regular season.

The Particulars

The Harvard men’s swimming and diving team heads to Princeton. N.J., for the 2009 Ivy League Championship.  The meet will be held at Princeton’s DeNunzio Pool.  The Crimson, ranked 20th in the Collegiate Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) and the CollegeSwimming.com national polls, is seeking its second straight Ivy title.

This season, head coach Tim Murphy and his squad own an 8-1 record, including a 6-1 mark against Ancient Eight opponents. 

Follow From Home

Live video and instant results are available at the Ivy League blog for the championships.

Scouting the Crimson

Harvard began the 2008-09 campaign by sweeping Cornell and Dartmouth in a tri-meet at Blodgett Pool Nov. 15.  The Crimson outscored the Big Green by a large margin, 253-47, while edging the Big Red, 158-142.  The team then doubled-up Columbia to close out the month of November.  Harvard claimed 13 of 16 events against the Lions.

In the first weekend of December, the Crimson traveled to Athens, Ga., for the George Invitational.  Harvard earned a second-place finish against some of the nation’s best competition, as the team scored more points than Denver, Clemson and West Virginia.  Harvard then visited Arizona State for the final dual meet before the New Year, as the team captured six events en route to a 121-108 win.

In a battle of unbeaten teams at Blodgett Pool Jan. 3, the Crimson, 5-0 at the time, handed Navy its first loss of the season by defeating the Midshipmen, 188-112.  Harvard took 11 of the 16 events on the day.  Next, the Crimson extended its win streak to open the season to six meets, as the squad cruised to a 213-85 win over Penn at home Jan. 10.

In its final dual meet of the year, Harvard won the first six events of the day to defeat Brown, 169-119, at Blodgett.  Harvard headed into the annual HYP meet, held at Blodgett Pool Jan. 31-Feb. 1, with a 7-0 mark and 5-0 record in the Ancient Eight.  After the first day of competition, the team held a 96-90 lead over Princeton and 129-57 advantage over Yale after claiming four events and recording seven NCAA ‘B’ qualifying times.  However, on day two, the Tigers amassed 103 points to take a 193-160 decision over Harvard, giving the Crimson its lone loss of the year.  Harvard defeated Yale, 251-102, to complete the regular season 8-1. 

The Crimson then opened the postseason by taking second at the 2009 ECAC Championships, hosted by Harvard at Blodgett Pool Feb. 27-March 1.  Harvard, looking for a three-peat, performed well, finishing second after each day of competition. 

Harvard has also succeeded outside of the pool this season, as the team was recently honored with the CSCAA All-Academic team award.  The Crimson posted a cumulative 3.30 grade-point average, the third-best mark in the country and first among Ivy League schools.

Last Season at Ivy League Championship

The Crimson accumulated 1,564 points, well ahead of second-place Princeton (1,208.5) to cap its perfect season by winning the 2008 Ivy title.  Harvard, ranked 22nd at the time, claimed three events on the final day of competition and 13 overall en route to the championship.  Geoff Rathgeber ’08 was honored with the Philip Moriarty Award as the Most Outstanding Swimmer at the Ivy League Championship, as well as the Harold Ulen Award for most career points.  He picked up seven All-Ivy first-team selections, including leading a group of 10 Crimson swimmers that earned All-Ivy League distinction.

Rathgeber won the 200 IM, the 400 IM and the 200 breast as an individual swimmer, and captured four relay races, including the 200 freestyle, 400 freestyle, 200 medley and the 400 medley. Rathgeber was a 21-time Ivy League champion overall in his career.

Bill Jones was a five-time Ivy champion after winning the 100 fly, 200 medley relay, 400 medley relay, 400 freestyle relay and 800 freestyle relay. The junior was also a second-team selection after finishing second in the 200 fly.

Pat Quinn ’08 earned four All-Ivy first-team honors as a member of the 200 freestyle, 400 freestyle, 200 medley and 400 medley relay squads. Sam Wollner ’08 earned three first-team honors, after winning the 500 freestyle and the 1000 freestyle as an individual. He was a member of the foursome that claimed the 800 freestyle relay. He also placed second in the 1650 free for second-team honors.

David Guernsey was a member of the 200 freestyle relay, 400 freestyle relay and 800 freestyle relay champions, becoming a three-time All-Ivy pick. He took second in the 100 freestyle, capturing second-team recognition. Eric Lynch captured wins in the 1000 freestyle and the 1650 freestyle, and took second in the 500 freestyle.

Jordan Diekema was a three-time All-Ivy swimmer, winning the 200 backstroke as well as the 200 medley and 400 medley relay events. He also touched the wall second in the 100 backstroke.

Justin Davidson took home the 100 breaststroke for All-Ivy first-team accolades. Mason Brunnick, who was part of the event-winning 800 free relay squad, and Will Heyburn, a member of the 200 freestyle relay champions, rounded out the All-Ivy first-team selections for the Crimson.

Schedule of Events

Thursday, March 5

Preliminaries at 11 a.m.

1. 200 Freestyle Relay

2. 500 Freestyle

3. 200 Individual Medley

4. 50 Freestyle

5. One-Meter Diving

Finals at 6 p.m.

1. 200 Freestyle Relay

2. 500 Freestyle

3. 200 Individual Medley

4. 50 Freestyle

5. One-Meter Diving

6. 400 Medley Relay

Friday, March 6

Preliminaries at 11 a.m.

1. 200 Medley Relay

2. 400 Individual Medley

3. 100 Butterfly

4. 200 Freestyle

5. 100 Breaststroke

6. 100 Backstroke

7. 1000 Freestyle

8. Three-Meter Diving

Finals at 6 p.m.

1. 200 Medley Relay

2. 1000 Freestyle

3. 400 Individual Medley

4. 100 Butterfly

5. 200 Freestyle

6. 100 Breaststroke

7. 100 Backstroke

8. 800 Free Relay

Saturday, March 7

Preliminaries at 11 a.m.

1. 1650 Freestyle

2. 200 Backstroke

3. 100 Freestyle

4. 200 Breaststroke

5. 200 Butterfly

Finals at 6 p.m.

1. 1650 Freestyle

2. 200 Backstroke

3. 100 Freestyle

4. 200 Breaststroke

5. 200 Butterfly

6. Three-Meter Diving

7. 400 Free Relay

Up Next

The NCAA Zone Diving Championships will be held March 12-14 in Buffalo, N.Y.