Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Pair Of Nationally Ranked Squads Meet In Annual Men's Swim/Dive HYP Weekend
January 29, 2009 | Men's Swimming and Diving
The No. 21 Princeton, No. 25 Harvard and Yale men's swimming and diving teams will meet this weekend at Blodgett Pool in Cambridge, Mass., for the annual HYP two-day competition. The weekend will likely serve as a preview of the upcoming Ivy League Championship meet at Princeton's DeNunzio Pool (March 5-7), as either Princeton or Harvard has won or shared the Ivy League title every year since 1971.
Since the decade began, both programs have won four titles apiece. Princeton won won both the 2006 and 2007 titles, but Harvard came back strong last season; after winning the HYP meet at Yale, the Crimson cruised to the EISL title (now called the Ivy League Championships). While the winner of this weekend is not guaranteed anything come championship weekend, it would give a strong confidence boost to the winning team; the weekend will also feature some of the premier swimmer in the league.
Princeton comes into the weekend with a 3-0 mark, both overall and in the Ivy League, and could crack the national Top 20 with a strong showing at Harvard. In the 13 individual swimming events of the two-day session, Princeton has an Ivy League-best time in seven of them. That statistic is slightly deceiving, though, since Tiger senior tri-captain Doug Lennox holds four of those top times and likely won't swim more than three individual events. His top times are in the 200 free (1:36.54), the 100 fly (45.72), the 200 fly (1:42.87) and the 200 IM (1:45.75). Lennox is the reigning Ivy League 200 fly champion and former league champion in the 100 fly.
Other event leaders for Princeton are Colin Hanna (500/4:21.85 and 400 IM/3:48.93) and Travis McNamara (1650/15:22.23). Yale's brilliant senior Alex Righi is the Ivy League event leader in the 50 free (19.13), 100 free (42.31) and the 100 back (47.34), while Harvard's Jordan Diekama leads the 200 back with a time of 1:45.97.
While this is part of the puzzle, it hardly shows the full picture. There will be four relays (200/400 free and 200/400 medley), as well as both the 1- and 3-meter diving competitions. While it's impossible to predict relays before finding out who is competing in each, Princeton can feel good about its diving contingent. Juniors Michael Papageorge and Dan Dickerson were finalists in both the 1- and 3-meter competitions at the 2008 EISL championships, and Papageorge finished second in the 3-meter event.
And while winning events is obviously important, Princeton has proven in past league championship meets that team depth can overcome anything. When the Tigers won the 2006 and 2007 league titles, they did so while winning only one event combined in the two seasons (2007, Lennox/100 fly). Having the top three finishers in several events are crucial to team success. Considering this, Princeton could gain an edge in both the distance and IM events; the Tigers have the top three times in both the 500 (Hanna, McNamara, Patrick Biggs) and 1650 (McNamara, Biggs, Robert Griest), the top three times in the 200 IM (Lennox, Hanna, Will Schaffer) and the top two times in the 400 IM (Hanna, Quemana).
On the flip side, Harvard has several strong competitors in each event and will be swimming in its own building, which is always a big advantage and is the spot where the Crimson regained the league title last year. Princeton is well aware that it will take a terrific two days to knock off the undefeated Crimson for the dual meet title. Yale is less likely to factor in the team victory, although the Bulldogs have several quick racers, including Righi and fly standout Christopher Pool.
The meet will begin Saturday at 6 p.m. and finish Sunday at noon. A full list of events can be found below:
Saturday, Jan. 31 at 6 p.m.1. 200 freestyle relay
2. 200 freestyle
3. 100 backstroke
4. 100 breaststroke
5. 200 butterfly
6. 50 freestyle
7. 200 IM
8. One-meter diving
9. 1650 freestyle
10. 400 medley relay
Sunday, Feb. 1 at noon
11. 200 medley relay
12. 400 IM
13. 100 freestyle
14. 200 backstroke
15. 100 butterfly
16. 500 freestyle
17. Three-meter diving
18. 200 breaststroke
19. 400 free relay