Princeton University Athletics
Men's Swimming & Diving Heads To Harvard With History On Its Mind
March 02, 2005 | Men's Swimming and Diving
March 2, 2005
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The 2004-05 Princeton men's swimming & diving team had one blip on its radar this season. If it can avenge that one loss, a late January defeat at the hands of rival Harvard, the Tigers will likely be repeat EISL champions for the first time since 1991.
While it is a 10-team competition (the eight Ivy League programs, Army and Navy), the last time a team other than Princeton or Harvard won the league title was in 1972, when Yale took the title.
Considering Harvard, which hosts this weekend's three-day competition, swept the league this season and Princeton swept every team outside of Harvard, there isn't much reason to suspect that history won't repeat itself in 2005.
Princeton finished the regular season 10-1, 6-1 in the Ivy League. It avenged a loss last season to Pittsburgh with a 141-102 victory at DeNunzio Pool in early January, and it cruised through most of its other dual meets during the season.
The H-Y-P meet on Jan. 30 was a different story. While Princeton defeated Yale 221-132, the Tigers fell to Harvard 225-128. The Crimson won 15 of the 19 events outright and finished ahead of Princeton in the one event won by a Yale Bulldog. The Tigers won three events, and it was a familiar name who reigned supreme for Princeton in each. Junior Will Reinhardt won the 50 free (20.56) and the 100 free (44.88), and he gave Princeton a sizable early lead for the victorious 400 free relay team.
To upset the Crimson in its home pool, Princeton will need many more swimmers to have successful meets. Swimmers like senior Justin Chiles, junior Mike Zee and sophomore Meir Hasbani provided key points in the 2004 EISL championship win for Princeton, and they were among a cast of swimmers who led Princeton to a successful 2004-05 regular season.
The competition will begin Thursday with preliminaries and continue through Saturday evening's final session. To follow all of the action online, click here.