Blodgett Pool records were not safe during Thursday evening’s finals at the 2017 Ivy League Men’s Swimming & Diving Championships, as a trio of top times fell during individual events.
Yale’s Kei Hyogo opened the evening by dropping 6.50 seconds from his preliminary time to shatter the 37-year-old Blodgett Pool record in the B final of the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:16.71. The time bettered UCLA’s Brian Goodell’s 1980 mark of 4:17.81 by more than a second.
Harvard then went 1-2 in the A final of the 500-yard freestyle, with Brennan Novak (4:18.93) out-touching Logan Houck (4:18.99) by .06 seconds to claim the event title for the Crimson for the first time since 2010. Columbia’s Michal Zyla placed third with a time of 4:20.40.
Penn’s Mark Andrew and Thomas Dillinger claimed the top two spots in the 200-yard individual medley, with Andrew edging Dillinger by .10 seconds to claim glory as Penn’s first Ivy League titlist in the event since Robert Atkinson in 1973. Andrew (1:44.75), Dillinger (1:44.85) and third-place finisher Jack Manchester of Harvard (1:45.32) each bettered the former Blodgett Pool record of 1:45.45.
In the 50-yard freestyle, Yale’s Aaron Greenberg tied the Blodgett Pool record set by former Bulldog Alex Righi—who was a four-time Ivy League champion in the event. Greenberg posted a 19.41 to finish ahead of Harvard’s Steven Tan (19.77) and Columbia’s Kevin Frifeldt (20.03).
Harvard claimed three spots in the one-meter diving final, where Bobby Ross (320.00), Austin Fields (298.15) and David Pfeifer (295.20) finished 2-3-4. Columbia’s Jayden Pantel (338.35) bettered his 2016 championship meet score by 24.15 points en route to his second-straight one-meter diving title.
In the night’s final event, the 200-yard freestyle relay, Harvard continued its relay dominance, dropping 1.34 seconds from its seed time to pace the field. The Crimson (1:18.40), who touched ahead of Cornell (1:19.09) and Penn (1:20.22) have now earned Ivy titles in the first three relay events.
Through seven events, Harvard (573.5) and Penn (443) have begun to distance themselves from the field. Columbia sits in third with 389.5 points, while Yale (357.5), Cornell (306.5), Brown (284) and Dartmouth (198) round out the seven-team field.
