Men's Swim and Dive Captures HYP Title, Women's Swim and Dive Places Third In Preparation for Ivy Championship

Last weekend the hot, humid atmosphere of Blodgett Pool was especially active as both the Men’s and Women’s Swim and Dive teams competed in the Harvard-Yale-Princeton Meet.

On Friday, the men’s team came out hot right away, with seniors Umit Guresand and Ryan Linnihan, first-year David Greely, and junior Marcus Holmquist winning the 200 meter freestyle relay by almost a second.

While the Crimson did not keep up their blistering early pace, Harvard (7-0) would still end up winning four out of the 10 events that night.

On Saturday, the Crimson again started strong with another relay win. Harvard also emerged victorious in the 1m dive event, with sophomore Adam Wesson clinching the win. This came after Wesson fell to the Tigers’(7-3, 5-2 Ivy league) Taso Callanan on Friday evening in the 3 meter. Junior Will Grant also displayed backstroke prowess, winning two backstroke events by a second each.

Coming into H-Y-P, Holmquist was not feeling 100%, but he still had an especially eventful meet.

“I was a little bit more nervous than usual. I had some issues with illnesses the previous week and felt pretty bad in the water. But once I got to the competition, I turned my brain off and went on autopilot,” Holmquist said.

After winning the opening relay, Holmquist also anchored the final relay. This race was set to decide the meet between the Crimson and the Tigers, who were tied coming into the final stretch.

“Relays capture why I love swimming, because it brings the team aspect to the sport. It is all about stepping up when it matters the most,” he continued.

Holmquist realized that Harvard needed to win the race to win the meet, but he did not realize that they were down by a third of a second as he entered the pool.

“I kind of saw that we were trailing a little bit but came in with confidence and realized that regardless of who is next to me, I could beat them if I swam my own race. I tried not to over swim the first 35 yards, I turned at the fifty and saw that I was catching up, and put on the jets.”

Harvard won the race by a flat second, and the Crimson ended up edging the Tigers 181-172 while decisively beating the Bulldogs 239-113. The victory represented Harvard’s fifth straight win in the HYP meet.

A diver soars through the air at the women's HYP meet on January 28th. By Cory K. Gorczycki

Later that day, Harvard Women’s Swim and Dive (6-2, 5-2) took to the pool. Coming into the meet with an undefeated record on the year, a loss to both the Bulldogs (9-0, 7-0) and the Tigers (8-3, 4-3) might seem like a disappointment for the Crimson. However, coach Stephanie Morawski ‘92 had a specific strategy in mind for HYP.

“It may not have been what we wanted but the score was what we expected,” the coach of 26 seasons said. "We have one goal in mind and that is winning another Ivy Championship. We want to make sure that physically, mentally, and emotionally, we are ready.”

But Coach Morawski was quick to highlight that this meet had another special point of significance for the team, as it also represented Senior Night. Since the teams (male and female) can only continue to the Ivy League championships with a smaller team, this also marks the last time some of the seniors would swim.

“They did an amazing job, and we were 100 percent behind them,” Coach Morawski said. “These seniors have had the unique experience of Swimming with us before, during and post COVID.”

For senior captain Evie Geier, the last day of the meet was a difficult one.

“[Saturday] was difficult, we got to the end and knew it would be our last meet at home. But, we are surrounded by some of the best teammates and best women at Harvard,” Geier said. “Definitely on my last dive I had tears welling up, but I was able to push through and finish strong,” she continued.

Harvard, Yale, and Princeton swimmers get set for a race at the women's HYP meet on January 28. By Cory K. Gorczycki

Geier finished Saturday’s 1 meter dive in sixth place, with a score of 266.70.

This meet did have one especially bright spot on the scoreboard for the women’s team, and that came from sophomore Mandy Brenner.

Brenner, a Crimson sports editor, won the 50 freestyle race, setting a new personal collegiate record of 22.89 seconds.

“The nerves were high but having the team behind me definitely felt good,” Brenner said..

Having this time in the books before the Ivy league championship was especially meaningful to the sophomore.

“HYP is a practice run for the Ivy’s. Having this race, and being nervous for the race gets me in the mental mode for Ivies, and I feel very good about that,” she remarked.

Next up for both teams is the Ivy League Conference championship at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island on Feb. 13 and 20th.

-Staff writer Thomas G. Harris can be reached at thomas.harris@thecrimson.com