Diving Into Competition: Men’s Swimming Team Set for Showdown in Arizona This Friday

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard Men’s Swimming and Diving returns to the aquatic stage on Friday afternoon to compete at Arizona. The event in Tucson is set for a 4 p.m. ET/2 p.m. MT commencement at Hillenbrand Aquatic Center.

What to Understand

• Harvard concludes its yearly holiday hiatus this week as it takes on the Wildcats in Tucson. The last time the Crimson was in competition, Dec. 4-7, it secured second place at the Minnesota Invitational. Harvard wrapped up the four-day Minnesota Invite with 1,209 points, finishing behind the fifth-ranked California (2,096) and ahead of No. 18 Minnesota (1,164), Denver (778.50) and UNLV (773.50).
• During its stay at the Minnesota Invitational, the Crimson saw two new entrants in the program’s record archives. David Schmitt achieved the sixth-fastest 100-fly time, clocking in at 46.26. Simultaneously, Joshua Chen made his mark at No. 10 on the 200 breast all-time performance list with a time of 1:58.56.
• Entering the dual meet, Harvard holds a 3-0 (3-0 Ivy League) record in head-to-head encounters this season. The Crimson’s latest one-on-one face-off took place on Nov. 22, where it emerged victorious with a score of 201-99. Counting from last season, Harvard has notched five consecutive dual meet wins.
• The Crimson aims for its first 4-0 start since 2022-23, a season it concluded with a flawless 7-0 record.
• Harvard’s journey to Arizona serves as something of a homecoming for sophomore Tristan Dalbey, who hails from Scottsdale. Dalbey graduated from Chaparral High School, situated 125 miles from the Tucson campus.
• This will be Harvard’s inaugural meeting with Arizona in the program’s history. Nevertheless, the Crimson boasts a 5-0 record against the current Big 12 Conference makeup (2-0 vs. Arizona State, 1-0 vs. BYU, 1-0 vs. Kansas, 1-0 vs. Utah). Friday’s contest will be Harvard’s first dual meet with a current Big 12 team since a January 2018 competition at ASU.
• The Wildcats, currently receiving votes in the recent CSCAA Top 25 Poll, stand at 2-3 for the season and will be competing for the first time since Dec. 21, when they triumphed over conference rival BYU, 240-107.

Upcoming

Harvard will host Penn and Boston College on Saturday, Jan. 25, at 10 a.m. ET for its Senior Day competition. The match is scheduled to be streamed live on ESPN+.