Columbia Men’s Swimming Stays Undefeated with Win Over Penn

NEW YORK – The Columbia men’s swimming and diving team won its home-opener Friday night to improve to 3-0 for the first time in nine years, topping Ivy League rival Pennsylvania, 159.5-136.5.

Columbia Press Release

For the first time since 2005, the Columbia men’s swimming and diving team are off to a 3-0 start after taking down Penn 159.5-136.5 in their home opener on Friday, Nov. 14. Behind spectacular performances from David Jakl, who grabbed three wins, and first-year Jayden Pantel who won both diving events, the Lions improve to 1-0 to begin Ivy League play.

The Quakers got off to a quick start in the pool grabbing the first two events, including the 200 medley relay in record fashion. The Penn foursome combined for a winning time of 1:30.61 to set a new Uris Pool record. The time breaks the previous record 1:30.72 set by Cornell in 2006.

The Lions received an exciting spark in the 200 free as senior David Jakl earned a victory in a close finish. Jakl hit the wall with a first-place time of 1:39.28, followed by teammate Terry Li in third-place at 1:39.90.

Columbia would knot the score in the next event behind a win from senior Michael Fox-Moles in the 100 backstroke. Fox-Moles clocked in at 41.14 to edge first-year Michal Zyla who clocked in with a runner-up time of 51.94.

Senior Kevin Quinn pulled out another Columbia victory in the 200 butterfly, with a time of 148.58, as the battle at Uris pool continued to heat up. Although the Quakers placed first in the next event, the 50 free, the Lions picked up a runner-up finish in Alex Ngan at 20.42 and a third-place finish in Stanley Wong at 20.94.

With the Lions still trailing, Jakl would rise to the challenge again in the 100 freestyle. Posting a time of 44.81, Jakl grabbed his second win of the night to put Columbia slightly ahead for the first time at 96-88. Li also added a third-place finish with a time of 45.28.

The Lions received a big boost in the 200 back with an impressive 1-2-3 sweep in the event. Quinn posted his second win of the night at 1:49.85, edging out teammate Zyla at 1:49.86. First-year Zach Thomas would round out the sweep with a third-place time of 1:51.55.

The Quakers posted back-to back wins in the next two events to keep things close in Uris Pool, but once again it would be Jakl in the followin event who thrived to keep Columbia in front. Jakl raced for his third victory in the 100 back with a time of 49.32. Li was close behind with a time of 50.06, tying Penn’s Michael Wen as runner-up finishers. The win put the Lions up 139.5-120.5 heading into the last two events of the night.

Columbia took care of business in the 200 IM as first-year Jae Park grabbed his first win a Uris Pool with a time of 1:51.47. Finishing runner-up was Quinn, with a time of 1:52.48.

On the boards, first-year Jayden Pantel swept both the 3-meter and 1-meter dives for the Lions as he grabbed his first collegiate wins. In the 3-meter dive, Pantel tallied 323.85 points as the only diver to break 300 points in an impressive home victory. He went on to post a winning score of 297.60 in the 1-meter dive, beating teammate Micah Rembrandt who tallied a runner-up score of 291.07.

After taking the lead midway through the meet, the Lions never looked back as they took down the Quakers159.5-136.5. Up next, Columbia will have a quick turnaround as they travel to New Haven, Connecticut tomorrow to face Yale at 2 p.m.

Results: Pennsylvania vs. Columbia

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