Sophomore Eddie Jin breaks pool document in Penn males’s swimming and diving season opener

A press release was made. 

At Penn males’s swimming and diving’s season opener in entrance of many alumni on Homecoming weekend, sophomore backstroke/freestyle specialist Eddie Jin kicked off his profession within the Red and Blue to a formidable begin — breaking Dean Farris’ pool document within the 200-yard freestyle from 2017. Five different Quakers gained particular person occasions, however it wasn’t sufficient as they fell 166-134 to Columbia. 

“[We will] continue getting better, continue the spirit they had on deck today, continue to work hard, and we’ll get our wins as the season goes. We’ll beat some teams. … [Columbia] brought the best out of us,” coach Mike Schnur stated. 

Jin joined the Quakers this yr as a switch from North Carolina. He informed The Daily Pennsylvanian that he had misplaced his roster spot at UNC because of the House v. NCAA settlement, and optimistic conversations with Schnur introduced him to Philadelphia. 

“I came in [Penn with] very minimal goals. I wanted to swim for the love of it,” Jin stated. “Going that time and beating Dean Farris’ record was a complete shock. I was elated, but I just put faith in my training and just put my best foot forward.”

In his time swimming for Harvard, Farris grew to become a 23-time All-American, gained 27 profession Ivy League titles throughout 11 particular person and 16 relay occasions, and is a former NCAA document holder within the 200 free. 

Many program alumni have been in attendance for the staff’s season opener, together with 2025 Wharton graduate Daniel Gallagher, 2024 Wharton graduate Jason Schreiber, and 2023 College graduate Mark McCrary. 

Another newcomer who had a standout debut is freshman butterfly/particular person medley specialist Henry Guo. In the 200-yard butterfly, Guo held on via the opening half by staying simply behind Columbia freestyle/butterfly specialist Adam Wu. The race got here right down to the ultimate 50 yards, the place Guo and Wu battled stroke for stroke. While Wu finally pulled forward within the remaining 10 yards, Guo powered on and completed second within the 100-yard butterfly and gained the 200-yard particular person medley with a time of 1:50.43.

Sophomore breaststroke specialist Watson Nguyen opened the meet with a stable breaststroke leg within the 200 medley relay, serving to ship the Quakers’ first victory. Keeping up the momentum, Nguyen’s strongest exhibiting got here a number of occasions later within the 100-yard breast the place he led the pack from the beginning. He turned in 25.42 on the 50-yard mark and touched residence with a time of 53.88, virtually two seconds forward of Columbia breaststroke/particular person medley specialist Joshua Corn. The time was notably inside putting distance of former Penn swimmer Matt Fallon’s pool document of 53.59. 

Nguyen additionally raced within the 200-yard breaststroke, taking fourth in a decent end — a race that his teammate, junior particular person medley specialist Peter Whittington, became a spotlight. 

What made the distinction for Whittington was his pullouts — he propelled himself towards the lead with each push off the wall. Whittington held his place at second with a 58.65 cut up on the midway mark, proper after Columbia breaststroke/freestyle/particular person medley specialist Beri Yang. The closing 25 yards have been right down to the wire between Whittington, Yang, and Corn. Still, Whittington pushed in entrance within the final 5 yards to say the win.

“Honestly, I just really wanted to beat Joshua Corn,” Whittington stated. “He beat me at Ivies last year, and ever since, I just didn’t want to lose to him.” 

While a number of Quakers had spectacular particular person performances, it wasn’t sufficient to defeat the Lions, who took residence the victory of their season opener.

Columbia diver Joseph Nicol swept each one-meter and three-meter dives, and the Lions’ depth throughout their roster helped propel them to the win. 

Looking forward to the remainder of the season, senior backstroke specialist and senior captain James Curreri emphasised the staff’s mentality of approaching the season daily. 

“Just taking it every day, correcting our mistakes, building upon our successes, and just keeping our momentum,” he stated. “What we do every day is going to result in what we get at the end. So as long as our day-to-day is good, our final result will be good.”

Penn males’s and girls’s swimming and diving will subsequent face off towards Brown on Saturday. 

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