Swimming

2024 Ivy League Men’s Fan Guide: Another Nailbiter – Can Princeton Dethrone Harvard?

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By Anne Lepesant on SwimSwam

2024 Ivy League Men’s Swimming & Diving Championships

Harvard held off Princeton to win its sixth consecutive men’s Ivy League title last season by just over 100 points. This year, the Tigers have a young squad hungry to regain the conference crown, but they will have to execute perfectly to overtake the deep Crimson squad. It would be Princeton’s first win since their 5-year streak of 2012-2016.

Event Schedule

Wednesday

  • 200 medley relay
  • 800 free relay

Thursday

  • 500 free
  • 200 IM
  • 50 free
  • 1-meter diving
  • 200 free relay

Friday

  • 1000 free
  • 100 fly
  • 400 IM
  • 200 free
  • 100 breast
  • 100 back
  • 3-meter diving
  • 400 medley relay

Saturday

  • 1650 free
  • 200 back
  • 100 free
  • 200 breast
  • 200 fly
  • 3-meter diving
  • 400 free relay

2023 Final Standings

  1. Harvard, 1545
  2. Princeton, 1433.5
  3. Yale, 1052
  4. Columbia, 975.5
  5. Brown, 887
  6. Penn, 879
  7. Cornell, 695
  8. Dartmouth,

Swimmers to Watch

Brown: Jack Kelly (Jr-Breast/IM), Aidan Wilson (Sr-Distance/IM), Marcus Lee (Jr-Free/Back), Rowland Lawver (So-Diving)

Kelly comes in ranked #1 in the 200 breast (1:52.03), #2 in the 100 breast (52.18), #2 in the 400 IM (3:28.46), and #3 in the 200 IM (1:44.60). He was the top scorer for Brown at last year’s championships, with runner-up finishes in both breaststrokes and a 3rd in the 200 IM. Wilson is top seed in the 1650 free, having swum a league-leading 15:06.08 at Bruno Invitational. He is also seeded 7th in the 1000 and 14th in the 500. Lee (20.10/43.62/1:36.87) is one of the leading sprint freestylers; he will also be key to Brown’s relays. Lawver scored 39 points in the 2 diving events last year and has had even better performances so far this season.

Columbia: Demirkan Demir (Jr-Breast), Adam Wu (So-Free/Fly), Stanford Li (Sr-Free/Back/IM), Isaac Beers (So-Free), Zach Vasser (Fr-Free)

Demir will look to defend his titles in both the 100 breast and 200 breast; he has now won the 100 in each of the last 2 Ivy Championships. He is seeded 5th in the 100 (53.51) and 4th in the 200 (1:55.72). Wu was a breakout star for the Lions in 2023, winning the 1000 free and finishing 2nd and 3rd in the 500 free and 200 fly, respectively. This year he comes in with slower times in his top events, but if he hits his taper right, he could have another stellar meet. Li swam the 100/200 back and 400 IM a year ago; this year he is seeded top-8 in the 400 IM, 17th in the 200 IM, and top-16 in both the 200 back and 200 fly. Beers brings the #6 time in the 100 back (47.48) and is #7 in the 200 back (1:43.90). Vasser ranks 4th in the mile (15:14.06) and 9th in the 1000 free (9:10.28).

Cornell: Sebastian Wolff (Jr-Breast/IM), Paige daCosta (Sr-Back/IM), Julian Correa (Fr-Distance), Joseph Gurski (Sr-Fly/Free)

Wolff was runner-up in the 200 IM last year. This year, he is seeded top-8 in the 100 breast (53.90) and 200 IM (1:45.95) and top-16 in the 50 free (20.05), 200 breast (1:58.94), and 400 IM (3:53.23). daCosta had a standout freshman season, winning the 100 back and finishing 2nd in the 200 back at Ivies. He has been an A finalist in each of the last 2 years and ranks 4th in the 100 back (46.84) and 10th in the 200 back (1:44.59) coming into this year’s meet. First-year sensation Correa is already within 2 seconds of the Cornell program record in the 500 free; he is seeded 3rd in the 500 (4:21.25), 3rd in the 400 IM (3:48.51), and top-16 in the 1000/1650 free. Gurski leads the league in the 100 fly (46.79) and ranks 3rd in the 200 fly (1:43.68). He was an A finalist in both butterfly distances last season.

Dartmouth: Aryeh Lesch (So-Diving), Everett Tai (So-Diving), Andy Peterson (Fr-Fly/Back), Tommy Erwin (Fr-Distance/Back), Yan Dvorteskiy (So-Free)

Dartmouth is in rebuilding mode under second-year head coach Milana Socha and the squad is young. Divers Lesch and Tai seem to have improved since their freshman season and could both score in the top-16 on the 1- and 3-meter boards. First-years Peterson and Erwin are expected to score in back and fly and in distance freestyle, respectively. Dvorteskiy was the Big Green’s highest-scoring swimmer at last year’s Championships with top-16 finishes in the 200 fly and 1000 free.

Harvard: Gunner Grant (Sr-Back), Marcus Holmquist (Sr-Free), David Schmitt (Fr-Fly), Cole Kuster (Sr-Distance), David Greeley (So-Free/IM)

Grant swept the 100/200 backstrokes in each of the last 2 years; he also won the 200 back as a freshman in 2020. With seed times of 45.95/1:40.68, he is expected to finish his career atop the podium in both events. In addition, he is seeded 2nd in the 200 IM (1:44.26). Holmquist tied for 2nd place in the 50 free last year and ranks #1 headed into this year’s Championships with a seed time (19.72) that’s 2-tenths faster than last year’s. First-year Schmitt leads the league in the 200 fly (1:42.17) and is seeded 3rd in the 100 fly (47.10). Kuster placed top-8 in the 500/1000/1650 free in 2023 and ranks 4th, 2nd, and 5th in the respective events this season. Greeley is a threat in the 50/100/200 free with top-5 seed times of 20.02/43.27/1:34.69. Harvard’s divers, especially Luke Foster and Adam Wesson, could add significant points – the Crimson has elected to take 6 divers in recent years, and, in 2023, they reaped the benefit with 200 points in the 2 diving events.

Penn: Matt Fallon (Jr-Breast/IM), Kevin Keil (Sr-IM), Ben Feldman (Sr-Free/Fly), James Curreri (So-Free/Back), Jason Schreiber (Sr-Breast/IM), Daniel Gallagher (Jr-Back/IM)

World Championships silver medalist Fallon is the top seed in the two breaststroke events (52.18/1:52.03). He set the meet record in the 200 breast as a freshman in 2022 but has yet to win the 100 breast title. Keil is seeded 4th in the 400 IM (3:49.93) and 7th in the mile (15:23.38). Feldman comes in with top times in the 100 free (7th, 43.77), 50 free (9th, 20.08), and 100 fly (11th, 47.75). Curreri swam the 200 IM and 100/200 back last year but this year he is #6 in the 1000 free (9:06.33), #10 in the 200 back (1:45.21), and #11 in the 500 free (4:24.17). Schreiber was an A finalist in the 400 IM and 200 breast a year ago; now, he comes in seeded 5th in the 200 breast (1:56.01), 9th in the 400 IM (3:52.53), and 19th in the 200 IM. Gallagher ranks 3rd in the 200 back (1:42.85), 14th in the 100 back (48.56), and 16th in the 200 back (1:48.01).

Princeton: Mitchell Schott (So-Free/Back/Fly), John Ehling (Sr-Free), Tyler Hong (Jr-IM/Fly/Back), Arthur Balva (Fr), Noah Sech (Fr), Max Kreidl (Sr), Nicholas Lim (Sr), Lucas Tudoras (So-Free), Aidan Wang (Fr-Diving)

Schott placed 3rd last year in the 100/200/500 free; this year he leads the Ivy League in the 200 free (1:33.40), 200 IM (1:43.48) and ranks #2 in the 100 free (42.93) and 500 free (4:20.91). Ehling finished in the top-4 of the 500/1000/1650 free a year ago and comes in with the top seed time in the 500 free this year (4:18.39). He’s also 4th in the 1000 (9:02.95) and 3rd in the mile (15:10.91). Hong is seeded 2nd in the 100 back (46.67) and 100 fly (46.87), 4th in the 200 back (1:43.63) and 200 fly (1:43.94), and 4th in the 200 IM (1:44.63). First years Balva and Sech are making themselves known already; Balva, with top-8 seeds in the 200/500 free and 200 fly (Balva) and Sech, with the #1 time in the 400 IM (3:46.67), #7 in the 200 IM, and #11 in the 200 breast. Seniors Kreidl and Lim are among the League’s best in their events. Kreidl is a top-8 seed in the 200 free, 100/200 back, 100/200 fly, and 200 IM. Lim, who was top-3 in both butterfly events last year, ranks 7th and 9th in the 100/200 fly coming into the meet. Tudoras has top-10 seed times in the 50/100/200 free. Wang, a first-year diver, comes into the meet with the top scores for the season thus far.

Yale: Deny Nankov (Fr-Free), Charlie Egeland (Fr-Breast), Konstantinos Zachariadis (Fr-Distance), Alex Hazlett (So-IM/Breast/Free), JP Ditto (Sr-Diving)

Yale had a big 2023 recruit class and numerous first-years are already among the League’s top performers. Nankov is #1 in the 50 free (19.71) and 100 free (42.85); he also ranks 4th in the 200 free (1:34.76). Egeland broke the Yale program record in the 100 breast by over 1 second at HYP; he is seeded 2nd in the 100 breast (52.22) and 3rd in the 200 breast (1:55.72). Zachariadis leads Yale’s strong distance group; he ranks 3rd in the 1000 free (9:02.77) and is seeded 10th/12th in the 500/1650 free. Hazlett was an A finalist in the 200 IM and 100 breast a year ago; this time he comes in seeded 4th in the 100 breast (53.47), 6th in the 200 fly (1:45.84), and 9th in the 200 IM (1:46.77). JP Ditto, runner-up on the 3-meter board a year ago, is entered with the #3 score in 1-meter diving and the #6 score in 3-meter.

Showdowns

100 Breaststroke: Penn junior Matt Fallon, who was already a breaststroke phenom before stepping foot on campus, was upended by Columbia’s Demirkan Demir in each of the last two years. This time, Fallon comes in with the top seed time (52.18) and is the favorite in both the 100 and 200 distances. Yale freshman Charlie Egeland (52.22) and Brown junior Jack Kelly (52.27) are both threats for the title. Fallon has not treated the Ivy League Championships as his taper meet in the last two seasons and has gone on to swim faster times at NCAAs. This could be his year for the conference crown.

50 Freestyle: Four teams have sub-20 second sprinters at the top, and Yale first-year Deny Nankov is leading the pack with an entry time of 19.71 from the mid-season Bruno Invitational. Harvard senior Marcus Holmquist (19.72), Brown freshman Jonathan Gim (19.86), and Princeton junior Brett Feyerick (19.87) are all within a finger length of the title.

Diving: After 4 years of domination by Columbia’s Jonathan Suckow, this is the year for new beginnings. Princeton first-year Aidan Wang has shown early promise, but Yale’s JP Ditto and Harvard’s Adam Wesson and Luke Foster are ready to earn their first Ivy crown in -Suckow era.

SwimSwam Picks

  1. Harvard
  2. Princeton
  3. Yale
  4. Brown
  5. Penn
  6. Cornell
  7. Columbia
  8. Dartmouth

After 6 straight Harvard wins, it could absolutely be Princeton’s year. But with a weak breaststroke leg for the medley relays, and several events with #1 seeds (meaning little wiggle room), Princeton will have to execute perfectly to ensure a win this year. Our model shows Harvard with a 50-point advantage, but better-than-expected medley relays and distance freestyle performances could turn the tables. The race for 4th place is the next-most exciting matchup, with Brown, Penn, and Cornell separated by only 10 points from top to bottom.

SwimSwam: 2024 Ivy League Men’s Fan Guide: Another Nailbiter – Can Princeton Dethrone Harvard?

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