Males’s Swimming Opens 2026 With Highway Win Over Brown

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The Columbia males’s swimming and diving workforce opened the 2026 calendar with a powerful street victory on Friday afternoon, defeating Brown, 157-143, marking the Lions’ first win of the brand new yr.

“A tough gritty win for the Lions today,” Head Coach Jim Bolder. “It was senior day today in Providence and the Bears gave us all we could handle. The meet went down to the last relay and the team of Yu Tong Wu, Sam Eckert, Derek Hitchens and Zion James won to seal the win. There were lots of exciting races and I was proud of the way we responded.”

Columbia set the tone early by successful the opening 200 medley relay, because the A squad of Isaac Beers, Joshua Corn, Brian Lee, and Zion James touched first with a time of 1:28.24.

Several Lions turned in standout multi-event performances all through the meet. Stephen Zhukov and Zach Vasser went 1-2 within the 1000 freestyle, with Zhukov successful the occasion in 9:19.37 and Vasser shut behind at 9:20.71. Gian Santos delivered a giant day within the distance occasions, capturing first place within the 500 freestyle (4:29.76) whereas additionally including a third-place end within the 200 IM.

In the butterfly occasions, Seungjoon Ahn claimed victory within the 200 fly with a time of 1:49.69, whereas Adam Wu adopted in second. Wu additionally positioned second within the 200 backstroke and contributed key factors throughout a number of occasions. Zion James secured a win within the 50 freestyle (20.08) and later added a runner-up end within the 100 free.

The breaststroke group supplied one other main scoring increase for the Lions, led by Corn’s first-place end within the 200 breaststroke (2:00.30). Beri Yang positioned second within the occasion, whereas Alston Qin added worthwhile factors. Columbia additionally picked up extra occasion victories all through the meet, persevering with to construct separation on the scoreboard.

On the boards, Joseph Nicol paced the Lions with a second-place end on the 1-meter dive (309.08), whereas Will Cooley added a third-place displaying on the 3-meter.

Columbia closed the meet in emphatic trend, successful the 400 freestyle relay. The workforce of Wu, Sam Eckert, Derek Hitchens, and James touched first in 2:56.31 to seal the Lions’ street victory.

“Joe was very steady on the 1 meter,” Head Diving Coach Scott Donie stated. “Will was leading the way on the 3 meter. Excited to get back to work and improve as we prepare for Cornell next week.”

Full outcomes from the meet, together with all the Lions’ prime performers and occasions, will be discovered HERE.

Columbia stays on the street subsequent weekend, touring to Navy for a Friday matchup, earlier than returning residence on Saturday to host Cornell at Percy Uris Natatorium.

 

For the newest on the Columbia males’s swimming and diving program, observe @CULionsMSD and @CULionsDiving on Instagram and Twitter, and on the internet at GoColumbiaLions.com.