In their first meet of the season, Columbia Men’s and Women’s Swim Teams hosted a “swimmage” against Fordham on Saturday, November 2 at the Percy Uris Natatorium.
Columbia began the season with a strong start: both the Men’s and Women’s teams won 13 out of their 14 events, outperforming Fordham. As a lifeguard, I got to work and watch the meet. Getting paid to watch the swim teams compete definitely beats lifeguarding during open recreation.
I arrived just a bit late, but when I got to Uris there was already energy and excitement in the chlorine-filled air. The pool deck was buzzing with swimmers preparing for the first meet of the season; for a few, it was their first swim meet ever at Columbia.
The meet opened with the Men’s 200-yard medley relay, where the Lions placed first with a time of 1:30.73. The team was led by Tristan Pragnell, Demir Demirkan, Brian Lee, and Zion James. The Women’s team also won their 200-yard medley relay, led by Emily Wang, Ashley Hu, Anthea Wong, and Sally Ma with a time of 1:44.86.
First years performed well at their first Columbia meet. On the Men’s team, Gian Santos shined, placing first in the 1000 yard freestyle (yes, that is indeed 40 laps) with a time of 9:24.45 and in the 200 yard IM with a time of 1:51.66. Lucas Zhang also won the 100 yard butterfly with a time of 49.97. For the Women’s team, Ashley Hong placed first in the 100 yard breaststroke, clocking at 1:05.65 and Jilly MacNamara won the 500 yard freestyle with a time of 5:05.64.
Closing out the meet was the 400 yard freestyle relay where the Women’s team, led by Allison Martin, Mia Avansino, Isabel Lee, and Sally Ma, finished first with a time of 3:29:98, beating Fordham by 3.63 seconds. This event was the only event the Men’s team did not win, instead placing second with a time of 3:10.66, about 5 seconds behind Fordham. This team was led by Ian Choi, Sam Eckert, Zion James, and Lucas Canteros-Paz.
I was amazed as the Lions displayed speed and strength at their first meet of the season in preparation for the Ivy League. Both teams will host UPenn on Friday, November 8 for their Ivy League opener, with the Men competing at 1pm and the Women at 5pm.
Header image via Bwarchives
Guard Stand view via Author